10.1055/s-2007-983737
The research focuses on the development of a concise method for the preparation of 1-acyl-4-alkoxy- or 1-acyl-4-alkylsulfanylnaphthalenes through PtCl2-catalyzed reactions of o-ethynylbenzoates or benzothioates with vinyl ethers. The study aimed to explore an efficient methodology for synthesizing naphthalene derivatives, which are significant in organic and bioorganic chemistry, under mild conditions using simple starting materials. The researchers confirmed the presence of platinum-containing carbonyl ylides as key reactive intermediates through NMR analyses and proposed that the naphthalene derivatives were produced by a [3+2] cycloaddition of the ylide species with vinyl ethers, followed by 1,2-alkyl migration of the generated platinum-carbene intermediates. The use of various solvents, catalysts, and substrates such as isopropyl o-ethynylbenzoate, butyl vinyl ether, and [PtCl2(H2C=CH2)]2, among others, demonstrated the versatility and high yield potential of this platinum(II)-catalyzed synthesis approach. The study concluded that the concept of metal-containing 1,3-dipoles, as exemplified by the platinum(II)-containing carbonyl ylides, could find abundant application in organic chemistry, offering new opportunities for developing synthetic methods for a variety of organic molecules.