Oxidative Cyclization of β-Hydroxyenones with Palladium(II): A Novel Entry to 2,3-Dihydro-4<i>H</i>-pyran-4-ones

Abstract

[reaction: see text] A palladium(II)-mediated oxidative cyclization was found to be effective for the preparation of structurally diverse 2,3-dihydro-4H-pyran-4-ones from the corresponding beta-hydroxyenones. Attractive features of this transformation include the ready availability of the starting enones, the regiocontrol, and the easy access of enantiopure 2,3-dihydro-4H-pyran-4-one from the corresponding enantiopure enone.