An efficient synthesis of three amphiphilic polyethylene glycol ubiquinol succinate (PQS)-bound N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)−gold(I) complexes as micellar catalysts in bulk water was developed. The surfactant-bound gold catalysts were applied in three different cyclization reactions of acetylenic or allenic substrates, with the main focus being the gold-catalyzed dehydrative cyclization of alkynediols to furans. An effective recycling of the designer surfactant-bound NHC−gold(I) catalysts in water was demonstrated for all cyclization reactions. With sodium dodecyl sulfate as the cosurfactant, a significant acceleration of the catalytic reactions was observed. Mechanistic investigations of the gold-catalyzed dehydrative cyclization of alkynediols point to possible causes for this acceleration effect.

Five-membered exo-glycals were synthesized from six-membered 2-iodo-endo-glycals by a metal/halogen exchange/ring-opening sequence followed by a cyclization catalyzed by Ag2CO3.

The incorporation of a cyclobutyl substituent in molecules, by transition metal-catalyzed cross-coupling, is described by only considering the formation of C–C bonds. Three main strategies are used to introduce a cyclobutyl substituent in molecules.