A. M. Echavarren et al.
rarely.[12] A Prins reaction of 19 with the alternative regio-
chemistry would afford 22,[8,11] which would fragment, re-
leasing acetone, to give rise to dienes 7.
Enyne 5a reacted with electron-rich 3,4,5-trimethoxyben-
zaldehyde in the presence of catalyst 10 to give an unexpect-
ed tricyclic product 23 in 47% yield, along with 6ae (13%
yield; Scheme 5). The structure of 23 was confirmed by X-
ray diffraction. A plausible mechanism for the formation of
23 involves trapping of the gold carbene in intermediate 24
to give 25 in a Friedel–Crafts process, followed by a proton-
promoted cleavage (Scheme 5).
Different types of intramolecular trapping of a gold car-
bene were found in the reaction of enyne 5h with aldehydes
in the presence of catalyst 10 (Scheme 6). Thus, in the reac-
tion of 5h with cyclopropanecarbaldehyde, in addition to
adduct 6ha (1.5:1 mixture of epimers, 41% yield), tricyclic
compound 26 was isolated in 30% yield. However, reaction
of 5h with mesitaldehyde gave 27 as a single stereoisomer in
43% yield. Tricyclic compounds 26 and 27 were formed by
1,5-Enyne 5a reacted with aldehydes to give adducts 6aa–
ai as the major products (Table 2, entries 1-13). In some
cases, the isomerization products 6’ were obtained in low
yield (Table 2, entries 1, 8, and 10). Interestingly, 1,5-enyne
5b afforded the products of 1,2-alkyl shift, 6’ba, in 75%
yield, along with the expected adduct 6ba as the minor
product (Table 2, entry 15). Reaction of 5a with ketones
also afforded mixtures of the corresponding adducts, 6aj/
6’aj and 6ak/6’ak (Table 2, entries 14 and 15).
Gold-catalyzed reactions of aryl-substituted 1,5-enynes
5c–g with carbonyl compounds afforded trienes 7 by a frag-
mentation process, via intermediate 22 (Scheme 4). The
most efficient transformations occurred when trans-cinna-
maldehyde was used as the carbonyl compound (Table 2,
entries 17-23). Compounds 7 were obtained as single E ster-
eoisomers, as established by NOESY experiments, which is
in accord with a fragmentation occurring via 22 with an
equatorial R3 substituent (Scheme 3).
À
formal insertions of gold carbenes 28a and b into C H
bonds of neighboring groups.[13]
In summary, a clearer picture of the reaction pathways
occurring in the gold(I)-catalyzed additions of carbonyl
compounds to enynes has emerged from this study, which
complements that leading to tricyclic compounds 2.[9] The
reaction of 1,6-enynes with al-
dehydes gave the expected
products of [2+2+2] cycloaddi-
Table 2. Gold-catalyzed reaction of 1,5-enynes with carbonyl compounds.[a]
tion. However, in most cases,
1,3-dienes 4 were also formed
by a metathesis-type reaction of
the enyne with the aldehyde.
This reaction proceeded by a
fragmentation of the tetrahy-
dropyranyl cations formed by
an intramolecular Prins reac-
tion. In contrast with the 5-exo-
dig cyclization of 1,6-enynes,
1,5-enynes reacted with carbon-
yl compounds to give adducts
by an initial 5-endo-dig cycliza-
tion. Fragmentation of the in-
termediates also occurred with
1,5-enynes in a few cases. Inter-
estingly, the intermediate cat-
ionic gold carbenes can also un-
Entry
5
R2, R3
[AuL]SbF6
t [h]
Product(s) (ratio,[b] yield [%])
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14[c]
15[d]
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
b
c
c
c
d
e
f
2,4-Me2C6H3, H
2,4-Me2C6H3, H
2,4,6-Me3C6H2, H
2,4,6-Me3C6H2, H
2,4,6-Me3C6H2, H
4-BrC6H4, H
9
10
8
9
10
9
9
9
10
9
9
10
9
9
9
9
8
9
10
9
8
2.5
30
4
4
4
2.5
1
1
6aa (7.5:1; 79)+6’aa (15)
6aa (7:1; 81)
6ab (7:1; 74)
6ab (95)
6ab (85)
6ac (1:1, 78)
6ad (1:1, 62)
6ae (1:1; 59)+6’ae (9)
6af (2.7:1, 66)
6ag (2.5:1; 51)+6’ag (7)
6ah (1.5:1, 72)
6ah (2:1, 59)
6ai (3:1, 58)
6aj+6’aj (1:1, 55)
6ak+6’ak (1:2, 67)[e]
6ba (2:1)+6’ba (1:4.7; 75)
7c (75)
7c (50)
7c (75)
7d (80)
7e (79)
7 f (67)
7g (78)
3-BrC6H4, H
2-BrC6H4, H
3,4,5-(MeO)3C6H2, H
2-Naph, H
(E)-CH=CHPh, H
(E)-CH=CHPh, H
CH=CMe2, H
7
2.5
0.5
7
0.5
32
20
2.5
1
1
2
1
1
À
dergo formal C H insertion or
electrophilic aromatic substitu-
tion to form complex carbo-
CD3, CD3
(CH2)5
A
a stereo-
(E)-CH=CHPh, H
(E)-CH=CHPh, H
(E)-CH=CHPh, H
(E)-CH=CHPh, H
(E)-CH=CHPh, H
(E)-CH=CHPh, H
(E)-CH=CHPh, H
(E)-CH=CHPh, H
AHCTUNGTRENNUNG
Experimental Section
9
9
2
1
General procedure for the reaction of
1,6-enynes with aldehydes (Table 1): A
solution of 1,6-enyne (80 mg) and the
corresponding aldehyde (2 equiva-
lents) in CH2Cl2 (ca. 0.1m) was cooled
to À408C and after 15 min the gold
g
[a] Reaction conditions, unless otherwise stated: Catalysts (5 mol%) with aldehyde (2 equivalents) in CH2Cl2
at 238C. [c] Ratios for 6aa–ba refer to epimers at C1. [d] Reaction with [D6]acetone (4 equivalents). [e] Re-
action with cyclohexanone (4 equivalents) and catalyst 9 (3 mol%). [f] Cycloisomerization products were also
obtained (27%). Naph=naphthyl.
5648
ꢄ 2009 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
Chem. Eur. J. 2009, 15, 5646 – 5650