Gold-catalyzed tandem reactions of amide-aldehyde-alkyne coupling and cyclization-synthesis of 2,4,5-trisubstituted oxazoles.

We report the first cationic gold(i)-catalyzed one-pot reaction of amide, alkyne and aldehyde followed by cyclization, to successfully access highly substituted oxazoles derivatives in good yields. A single catalyst allows the occurring of this multi-step reaction atom- and step-economically, with water as the only theoretical side product.