Oxidative Cyclization of β,γ-Unsaturated Carboxylic Acids Using Hypervalent Iodine Reagents: An Efficient Synthesis of 4-Substituted Furan-2-ones

Abstract

The oxidative cyclization of β-substituted β,γ-unsaturated carboxylic acids using a hypervalent iodine reagent to provide 4-substituted furan-2-one products, is reported. In this cyclization, the use of a highly electrophilic PhI(OTf)2, which is in situ prepared from PhI(OAc)2 and Me3SiOTf, is crucial. Depending on the substitution pattern at the α-position of the substrates, furan-2(5H)-ones or furan-2(3H)-ones are produced. Thus, the present method offers a useful tool for accessing various types of 4-substituted furan-2-ones that are important structural motifs in the field of organic chemistry and medicinal chemistry.