Palladium-catalyzed annulation reactions for diastereoselective cyclopentene synthesis.

Palladium-catalyzed annulation reactions of conjugate acceptors and allenyl boronic ester provide substituted cyclopentenes in high yields and, where applicable, diastereoselectivities. This method provides rapid assembly of building blocks for natural product synthesis, including polycyclic lactone and lactam products. Reactions are hypothesized to initiate by conjugate addition of a nucleophilic propargylpalladium complex.