A Facile Approach to Oximes and Ethers by a Tandem NO+ -Initiated Semipinacol Rearrangement and H-Elimination.

An efficient oximation method has been developed on the basis of NO+ -initiated semipinacol rearrangement and subsequent proton elimination. The procedure enabled the rapid construction of a series of oximes and oxime ethers with spiro quaternary stereocenters from allylic silyl ethers. Additional features of this reaction include wide substrate tolerance as well as the commercial availability of the safe nitrosation reagent NOBF4 . The key N-heterotricyclic cores of three natural alkaloids, tuberostemoninol B, (+)-quebrachidine, and an insecticide, were also constructed efficiently by this method.