A novel stereoselective and convergent catalytic method for the cyclopropanation of electron-neutral and -rich olefins by sulfonium ylides is reported which unusually proceeds through olefin activation rather than by metal carbene formation.

A gold-catalyzed asymmetric cyclopropanation of unactivated olefins with sulfonium ylides in the presence of a bimetallic catalyst with a novel dimeric TADDOL-phosphoramidite ligand is reported. This transformation allows a rare gold-catalyzed dynamic deracemization of chiral racemic substrates, where the same catalyst is responsible for several synergistic tasks in solution. The products are useful building blocks in synthesis and enable expeditious access to natural products.

An efficient trans-selective hydrogenation of alkynes under low hydrogen pressure and low reaction temperatures is reported, applying a commercially available ruthenium hydride complex. The developed reaction conditions, which tolerate a variety of functional groups, are carried out in a two-chamber setup with ex situ generated hydrogen. The reaction setup is highly suitable for deuterium labeling. The trans-selective hydrogenation was extrapolated to a transfer hydrogenation protocol, employing a packed bed immobilized ruthenium hydride catalyst in continuous flow with a retention time of only 10 min.

Gold(I) catalysis of olefin activation is still a rare feature in the repertoire of that metal. Mechanistic studies on the gold(I)-catalyzed cyclopropanation of allyl-substituted sulfonium ylides, including kinetic analysis as well as detailed computational studies, reveal that the reaction proceeds through activation of the alkene moiety. Furthermore, a novel competitive allylic isomerization pathway that interconverts "linear" and "branched" allylic isomers is uncovered. The subtle interplay of cyclopropanation and olefin isomerization results in an intriguing domino process where two independent catalytic transformations combine with near-perfect regio- and stereoselectivities.

Charge-accelerated sigmatropic rearrangements are useful reactions for the creation of key C-C bonds in synthesis. In this mini-review, recent developments in sulfonium [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangements that take place under mild and operationally simple conditions are presented and discussed in a unified manner