Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol.131, No.41, 14628-14628, 2009
Regioselective Synthesis of 4,6,7-Trisubstituted Benzofurans from Furfural Imines and Nonheteroatom Stabilized Alkynylcarbene Complexes
Nonheteroatom stabilized chromium alkynlcarbene complexes 3,6, generated in situ from Fischer cabene complexes 1, smoothly react with furan-2-ylmethanimines 4 to provide substituted 7-aminobenzofurans 5 in moderate to good yields. The procedure involves the construction of the arene ring by a regioselective [3+3] carbocyclization reaction.