The first catalytic enantioselective 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of münchnone dipoles with electron-deficent alkenes is described. The reaction is catalyzed by chiral bis(phosphine)gold(I) benzoate complexes and provides Δ-pyrrolines with excellent regio-, diastereo-, and enantioselectivity. The reaction is proposed to proceed through a 1,3-dipole generated by deprotonation of a gold(I)-activated azlactone.

Azlactones participate in stereoselective reactions with electron-deficient alkenes and N-sulfonyl aldimines to give products of 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition and Mannich addition reactions respectively. Both of these reactions proceed with good to excellent diastereo- and enantioselectivity using a single class of gold-catalysts, namely C2-symmetric bis(phosphinegold(I) carboxylate)complexes. The development of the azlactone Mannich reaction to provide fully protected anti-α,β-diamino acid derivatives is described. 1,3-Dipolar cycloaddition reactions of several acyclic 1,2-disubstituted alkenes, and the chemistry of the resultant cycloadducts, are examined to probe the stereochemical course of this reaction. Reaction kinetics and tandem MS studies of both the cycloaddition and Mannich reactions are reported. These studies support a mechanism in which the gold complexes catalyze addition reactions through nucleophile activation rather than the more typical activation of the electrophilic reaction component.

Your wish is my command: Deracemization is a powerful strategy wherein a racemate is converted into a 100 % yield of a single enantiopure product. A new concept in catalytic deracemization is presented, in which a racemate with n stereogenic elements can be selectively converted into each one of 2(m) (m = number of chiral centers of the product) different enantiopure products, by simple tuning of the reaction conditions.

A golden switch: Doubly stabilized sulfonium ylides can be coupled with alkynes in a gold-catalyzed synthesis of heterocycles. This method hinges on a switch in the reactivity of the sulfur ylide resulting from the simple modification of the electron-withdrawing moieties and leads to either furans or furanones bearing a quaternary center (see scheme)