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A Cu(MeCN)4BF4-catalyzed dehydrative reaction of 1-(2-hydroxyphenyl)propargyl alcohols with diarylphosphine oxides has been developed to provide an efficient synthesis of phosphorylated benzofurans in good to high yields. In the presence of a catalytic amount of an organic base, a variety of H-phosphonates and H-phosphinates can also be employed as good substrates to produce the corresponding products in moderate yields. The reaction has significant economical and ecological advantages since the formation of a new Csp3−P bond and the benzofuran framwork could both be achieved using an inexpensive copper catalyst with water produced as the sole byproduct. The synthetic transformations of the product have also been demonstrated.

The cadmium(II) chloride-catalyzed dehydrative C−P cross-coupling reaction of propargyl alcohols with diarylphosphine oxides is reported. Several propargyl alcohols including those bearing the sterically demanding tert-butyl group at the triple bond terminus can be used as good substrates in the reaction to produce the corresponding allenylphosphine oxides in good to high yields in acetonitrile at 100 °C. The reaction can also be easily scaled up to a gram-scale synthesis. A mechanism study indicates that the reaction may proceed through a process of propargylic substitution to generate phosphonite intermediates followed by [2,3] sigmatropic rearrangement to produce the allenyl products, rather than through a common allenylative substitution resulting from P-nucleophilicity.

The highly regioselective nucleophilic ring opening of propargyl epoxides by P(O)H compounds based on a Ag catalyst is reported. A variety of P(O)H compounds including H-phosphonates, H-phosphinates and diarylphosphine oxides can be used to produce 4-phosphoryl 2,3-allenols under mild conditions. The stereoselective synthesis of 1-phosphoryl 1,3-butadienes from 4-phosphoryl 2,3-allenols and organoboronic acids via a Pd-catalyzed coupling reaction is also described.

A cationic gold(I)-catalyzed decarboxylative etherification of propargyl carbonates to selectively produce propargyl ethers is reported. In the reaction the gold(I) catalyst shows a distinct σ-Lewis acidity rather than the commonly observed π-Lewis acidity, and thus catalyzes the decarboxylation of a variety of propargyl carbonates to give the corresponding propargyl ethers with high selectivity. This reaction represents a rare example of the tunable reactivity of cationic gold(I) complexes between σ-Lewis acidity and π-Lewis acidity.

In this paper, we report a novel sequential reaction sequence consisting of a series of processes including Sonogashira coupling, propargyl-allenyl isomerization, [3 + 2] cycloaddition, denitrogenation, and highly selective biradical coupling reaction, providing an efficient synthesis of fused polycyclic pyrrole derivatives. The reaction features one C-C bond and two C-N bonds formed to construct the pyrrole unit, together with two rings efficiently assembled in one stroke.

A stepwise process involving Sonogashira coupling, propargyl-allenyl isomerization and Schmittel cyclization has been realized, leading to an efficient synthesis of polycyclic fluorene derivatives from readily available starting materials. The reaction features the formation of three new carbon-carbon bonds to construct the benzene unit together with an efficient assembly of three or four rings in a single operative step.

A variety of dihydroisobenzofuran derivatives has been prepared in good yields via an interesting sequential reaction consisting of palladium-catalyzed coupling, propargyl-allenyl rearrangement, [4 + 2] cycloaddition and aromatization. A double-coupling, rearrangement, [4+2] cycloaddition and aromatization process is also described for the synthesis of more complex and diverse structures.