A new platinum complex catalyzed reaction involving nucleophilic substitution at the central carbon atom of the π-allyl ligand

The reaction of 2-chloro-allyl acetate with sodium ethyl acetoacetate in the presence of a platinum(O) complex gave furan derivatives. The key feature of this-new platinum-catalyzed reaction is the nucleophilic substitution at the central carbon atom of pi-allyl complexes. The regioselectivity of the nucleophilic attacks (central or terminal) is dependent on the pK(a) of the nucleophile. In addition, a labeling experiment revealed that a rapid syn-anti isomerization of the (pi-allyl) platinum complexes occurs.