Divergent Gold(I)-Catalyzed Skeletal Rearrangements of 1,7-Enynes.

The gold(I) complex catalyzed cycloisomerization and skeletal rearrangement of 1,n-enynes (n=5-7) is a powerful methodology for the efficient synthesis of complex molecular architectures. In contrast to 1,6-enynes, readily accessible homologous 1,7-enynes are largely unexplored in such transformations. Here, the divergent skeletal rearrangement of all-carbon 1,7-enynes by catalysis with a cationic gold(I) complex is reported. Depending on electronic and steric factors, differently substituted 1,7-enynes react via different carbocations formed from a common gold carbene intermediate to yield on the one hand novel exocyclic allenes and on the other hand tricyclic hexahydro-anthracenes through a novel dehydrogenative Diels-Alder reaction.