“…Secondary exocyclic acetoxylactam 5 a were subjected to alkynylation reaction giving the products 6 a, 6 b, and 6 c in 90 %, 85 %, and 93 % isolated yields, respectively (Scheme 3). As anticipated from earlier results by our group, acetoxylactam 5 b derived from saccharine [28] surpassed its isoindolone congeners 5 a, and delivered the target products 7 a, 7 b, and 7 c in respectively 78 %, 80 % and 97 % higher isolated yields and a reduced reaction time of 1 h. The use of the exocyclic acetoxylactam pyrrolidine 5 c as a less electrophilic precursor was also effective substrate and was subjected to alkynylation giving 8 a in 57 % yield using 4 equivalents of 3 c and 10 mol% of FeCl 3 . The reaction was also applicable to N-O-acetals substrates with tertiary exocyclic acetoxylactams, [29] as exemplified by the synthesis of 9 a-e derived from acetoxylactam 5 d. The products were isolated in good to excellent yields (60 to 99 %) (Scheme 3).…”