The right cat for the desired odor: The key step in an enantioselective synthesis of the prized fragrance (−)‐β‐santalol was a highly selective copper‐catalyzed cyclization–fragmentation reaction of an enynol (see scheme). When a platinum catalyst was used for the cyclization step, the desired fragmentation did not take place; instead, a product containing a cyclopropane ring was formed with 100 % selectivity.

(E)-Trisubstituted allylic alcohols are commonly prepared from the corresponding (E)-enals, themselves readily accessible by a simple aldol condensation reaction. We demonstrate that these very same (E)-enals can be converted into (Z)-trisubstituted allylic acetates (and thus alcohols) by a ruthenium-catalyzed 1,4-hydrogenation of the corresponding dienol acetates. This simple solution to a long-lasting problem was applied to an industrially feasible synthesis of (-)-β-santalol.

In the search for a new access to thujopsanone related compounds by cycloisomerization reactions of unsaturated propargylic alcohols and acetates, we found several interesting reaction types and demonstrated the complementarity of Au, Pt, and Cu catalysts. Thus, 6-en-1-yn-3-ol 10a underwent clean cyclization/ether formation to 16, in particular using Au catalysts (76-98%) or a newly prepared Cu(I)-triflimidate-catalyst (94%). The corresponding acetate 11 a underwent either the cycloisomerization with concomitant [1,2]-acyl shift (to 12: 78% using AuCl(3)) or an unprecedented rearrangement-cycloaddition leading to 20 (43% using [(tBuXPhos)AuNTf(2)]), a strained fused tricyclic ring system containing a [2.2.0] bicyclic subunit.