Tunable Arylative Cyclization of 1,6-Enynes Triggered by Rhodium(III)-Catalyzed C–H Activation

Two tunable arylative cyclizations of cyclohexadienone-containing 1,6-enynes are reported via rhodium(III)-catalyzed C–H activation of O-substituted N-hydroxybenzamides. The use of different O substituents, i.e. O-Piv and O-Me, on the directing group allows the formation of either tetracyclic isoquinolones through an Ⓝ-Michael addition process or hydrobenzofurans through a Ⓒ-Michael addition process. Mechanistic investigations of these two cascade reactions clearly indicated that the C–H bond cleavage process was involved in the turnover-limiting step. Furthermore, the cyclization products could be subjected to various transformations for elaborating the pharmaceutically and synthetically valuable potential. This is the first example of a rhodium(III)-catalyzed arylative cyclization reaction of 1,6-enynes, and the results extend the application realm of Cp*RhIII-catalyzed C–H activation cascade reactions.