Central-to-Axial-to-Central Chirality Transfer in the Au(I)-Catalyzed Cycloisomerization of Propargyl Vinyl Ethers to Cyclopentadienes

An easy approach to the enantioselective synthesis of five-, six-, and seven-membered ring-fused cyclopentadienes (85-99% ee) is based on the Au(I)-catalyzed cycloisomerization of enantiomerically pure or enriched propargyl vinyl ethers, which occurs with complete central-to-axial-to-central chirality transfer. DFT calculations show that the formation of a nonplanar σ-Au(I)-pentadienyl cation intermediate having a helical configuration, which quickly cyclizes to form the target cyclopentadiene, accounts for the lack of erosion of the initial optical purity. From a synthetic point of view, when the cyclopentadienes are subjected to a quick 1,5-H shift and cannot be isolated as pure regioisomers, they can be trapped in situ by suitable dienophiles during or immediately after the gold(I)-catalyzed cycloisomerization to form more complex polycyclic compounds. The synthesis of an enantiomerically pure α-tertiary amine was realized to demonstrate the usefulness of this approach.