A gold-catalyzed hydrogen bond-directed tandem cyclization strategy to synthesize indeno-chromen-4-one and indeno-quinolin-4-one derivatives has been developed. The hydrogen bond existing between the hydroxyl group (or the amide group) and the carbonyl group played an essential role in controlling the selectivity, which was confirmed by both experimental and theoretical evidence.

A multifaceted gold(i)-catalyzed aromaticity-driven double 6-endo cascade cyclization strategy to synthesize both 12H-benzo[a]xanthen-12-ones and benzo[a]acridin-12(7H)-ones, whose core motifs xanthone and acridone both exist as important scaffolds in an immense number of bioactive compounds, was developed. The scopes of this strategy were examined by using a batch of synthetic 1,3-diphenylprop-2-yn-1-one substrates. To probe the mechanism of this cyclization a control experiment for synthesizing intermediates was performed. Thus, a putative mechanism was determined according to this experiment and previous studies.

A unique approach to biaryls was developed on the basis of propargyl vinyl ethers and dienophiles substrates via a gold(I)-initiated cycloisomerization/Diels-Alder/retro-Diels-Alder cascade reaction. The scope and mechanism of the reaction were investigated on the basis of a series of synthetic substrates, control experiments, and DFT calculations.

First Total Synthesis of (-)-Dehydrocarissone.-The first total synthesis of title compound (III) starting from readily available α-cyperone (I) is described. -(LIU, L.; XIONG, Z.; NAN, F.; LI, T.; LI, Y.; Bull. Soc.