Cyclopentene skeletons are ubiquitous in natural products
and small
molecule drugs. The (3 + 2) cycloaddition of cyclopropanes and alkynes
represents an efficient and atom-economic strategy for synthesizing
these structures. However, the types of substituents on cyclopropane
and alkyne used in previous works show evident limitations, restricting
the application of this type of reaction to some extent. Herein, we
report a broad-scope (3 + 2) cycloaddition of cyclopropanes and alkynes
catalyzed by boronyl radicals. In this method, various substrates,
such as mono-, di-, tri-, and tetrasubstituted cyclopropanes, as well
as mono- and disubstituted alkynes, were compatible with up to 98%
isolated yield.