Nucleophilic substitution reactions of alcohols are among the most fundamental and strategically important transformations in organic chemistry. For over half a century, these reactions have been achieved by using stoichiometric, and often hazardous, reagents to activate the otherwise unreactive alcohols. Here, we demonstrate that a specially designed phosphine oxide promotes nucleophilic substitution reactions of primary and secondary alcohols in a redox-neutral catalysis manifold that produces water as the sole by-product. The scope of the catalytic coupling process encompasses a range of acidic pronucleophiles that allow stereospecific construction of carbon-oxygen and carbon-nitrogen bonds.

A chiral phosphathiahelicene scaffold displaying a phosphole and a thiophene unit as the terminal rings of the helical sequence has been synthesized and characterized by spectroscopic methods and X-ray diffraction studies. The phosphine oxides (HelPhos-V oxides) have been obtained following a robust and scalable synthetic approach, based on a nickel-promoted alkynes cyclotrimerization reaction. Then, late-stage functionalization has been carried out via a bromination/palladium coupling reaction sequence. The HelPhos-V gold(I) complexes have been used as catalysts in the unprecedented enantioselective [2+2] cyclization of N-homoallenyl tryptamine derivatives, to afford indolenine-fused cyclobutanes in good isolated yields, with enantiomeric excesses up to 93%.

N-Propargyl tryptamines bearing N-substituents such as propargyl, allyl, alkyl or benzyl groups undergo regioselective gold-catalyzed cyclizations to the corresponding spiroindolenines, while it was previously shown that N-sulfonyl-N-propargyl tryptamines lead to achiral azepino [4,5-b]indoles. An asymmetric approach to these spiroindolenines is disclosed using chiral gold complexes, leading to enantiomeric ratios up to 84/16. The spiroindolenines could be late-stage functionalized using Huisgen cyclizations, palladium-catalyzed cross couplings or reductions. Computational studies show that the reaction evolves via different mechanistic pathways depending on the nature of the substituent at the amine.

The catalytic potential of copper(I)-exchanged zeolites was evaluated in the Ullmann-type synthesis of diaryl ethers. Among four investigated zeolites (i.e., USY, MOR, β, and ZSM5), Cu(I)-USY was the best catalyst and proved efficient under ligand-free conditions in toluene at 120 °C. Cu(I)-USY was also easy to recover and was recyclable up to five times without significant loss of activity.

The copper(I)-doped zeolite Cu-USY proved to be a versatile, efficient, and recyclable catalyst for various Ullmann-type coupling reactions. Easy to prepare and cheap, this catalytic material enables the arylation and heteroarylation of diverse O-, N-, S-, and C-nucleophiles under ligand-free conditions while exhibiting large functional group compatibility. The facility of this catalyst to promote C-O bond formation was further demonstrated with the total synthesis of 3-methylobovatol, a naturally occurring diaryl ether of biological relevance. From a mechanistic viewpoint, two competitive pathways depending on the nature of the nucleophile and consistent with the obtained results have been proposed.

Substituted phosphathiahelicenes have been prepared via a straightforward two-step procedure involving the regioselective bromination of a preformed helical scaffold, followed by palladium catalyzed coupling reactions. The new helicenes have been used as ligands in gold(i)-catalyzed [4+2] cyclizations of 1,6-enynes. The resulting dihydro-cyclopenta[b]naphthalene derivative was obtained in excellent yields and with up to 91% ee.

N‐Propargyl‐ and N‐homoallenyl‐2‐bromo‐β‐tryptamines undergo gold(I)‐catalyzed dearomatizing cyclizations to afford 2‐bromospiroindolenines that are in situ hydrolyzed to furnish spirooxindoles in a one‐pot process. Tryptophane derivatives (R2=CO2Et) led upon cyclization to chiral spirooxindoles in excellent diastereoselectivities.magnified image

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