Water-initiated hydrocarboxylation of terminal alkynes with CO and hydrosilane.

This work discloses a Cu(ii)-Ni(ii) catalyzed tandem hydrocarboxylation of alkynes with polysilylformate formed from CO2 and polymethylhydrosiloxane that affords α,β-unsaturated carboxylic acids with up to 93% yield. Mechanistic studies indicate that polysilylformate functions as a source of CO and polysilanol. Besides, a catalytic amount of water is found to be critical to the reaction, which hydrolyzes polysilylformate to formic acid that induces the formation of Ni-H active species, thereby initiating the catalytic cycle.

Tandem one-pot CO reduction by PMHS and silyloxycarbonylation of aryl/vinyl halides to access carboxylic acids.

The present study discloses the synthesis of aryl/vinyl carboxylic acids from Csp2-bound halides (Cl, Br, I) in a carbonylative path by using silyl formate (from CO2 and hydrosilane) as an instant CO-surrogate. Hydrosilane provides hydride for reduction and its oxidation product silanol serves as a coupling partner. Mono-, di-, and tri-carboxylic acids were obtained from the corresponding aryl/vinyl halides.

A [3 + 2]-annulation approach to tetrasubstituted furans from MBH-carbonates of acetylenic aldehydes via sequential substitution/cycloisomerization.

A novel metal-free approach to construct the tetrasubstituted furans from Morita-Baylis-Hillman (MBH)-carbonates of acetylenic aldehydes has been developed. This strategy involves the cascade nucleophilic substitution/5-exo-dig-cycloisomerization of MBH-carbonates with 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds to give uniquely substituted 2-furan-3-yl acrylates. Additionally, the obtained furan adducts open a new entry to naphthofurans through palladium-catalyzed decarboxylative benzannulation.

Sequential allylic substitution/Pauson-Khand reaction: a strategy to bicyclic fused cyclopentenones from MBH-acetates of acetylenic aldehydes.

An efficient approach for the construction of novel bicyclic fused cyclopentenones starting from Morita-Baylis-Hillman (MBH) acetates of acetylenic aldehydes with flexible scaffold diversity has been achieved using a two-step reaction sequence involving allylic substitution and the Pauson-Khand reaction. This strategy provided a facile access to various bicyclic cyclopentenones fused with either a carbocyclic or a heterocyclic ring system in good yield.

Tandem allylic substitution-5-exo-dig-carbocyclization: a [4 + 1]-annulation approach to arylidene cyclopentenes from MBH-acetates of acetylenic aldehydes.

A new entry for the synthesis of functionalized arylidene cyclopentenes under metal-free reaction conditions is disclosed via the base-promoted [4 + 1]-annulation of Morita-Baylis-Hillman acetates of acetylenic aldehydes with active methylene derivatives involving tandem allylic substitution followed by 5-exo-dig-carbocyclization.