SYNTHESES OF FUNCTIONALIZED CYCLIC MOLECULES BY PALLADIUM-CATALYZED CYCLIZATION OF PROPARGYLIC ESTERS WITH BIS-NUCLEOPHILES

It is known that propargylic esters react with palladium complex leading to pi-propargylpalladium complexes, which further cause various transformations in the presence of soft nucleophiles to produce the corresponding products. Among them, palladium-catalyzed cyclization of propargylic esters with bis-nucleophiles is one of the useful methodologies for the construction of functionalized cyclic molecules in one step. Since the pioneering work reported by Tsuji in 1985, a considerable number of reactions have been reported by the use of various bis-nucleophiles. In this review, a comprehensive overview of the studies on palladium-catalyzed reactions of propargylic esters with bis-nucleophiles is described, in which various functionalized cyclic molecules can be synthesized in a regio- and stereoselective manner.