Synthesis of Barbaralones and Bullvalenes Made Easy by Gold Catalysis

Abstract

The gold(I)-catalyzed oxidative cyclization of 7-ethynyl-1,3,5-cycloheptatrienes gives 1-substituted barbar- alones in a general manner, which simplifies the access to other fluxional molecules. As an example, we report the shortest syntheses of bullvalene, phenylbullvalene, and disubstituted bullvalenes, and a readily accessible route to complex cage- type structures by further gold(I)-catalyzed reactions.