Copper-catalyzed distannylation of alkynes

Abstract

A copper(I)-phosphine complex has been found to facilely promote the distannylation of alkynes with the aid of a base, where a catalytically generated Cu-Sn species serves as a key intermediate. The broad versatility of the copper catalysis has been demonstrated by the facile distannylation of unfunctionalized aliphatic alkynes, being hardly achievable with the conventional palladium catalysts.