Non‐Diazo C−H Insertion Approach to Cyclobutanones through Oxidative Gold Catalysis

Abstract Cyclobutanones are synthetically versatile compounds that often require extensive effort to access. Herein, we report a facile synthesis of cyclobutanones based on the C(sp 3 )−H insertion chemistry of oxidatively generated gold carbenes. Various cyclobutanones were obtained in synthetically useful yields from substrates with minimal structural prefunctionalization. This discovery reveals new synthetic utilities of gold‐catalyzed oxidative transformations of alkynones.