Studies On The PtCl₂-catalyzed Tandem Reactions Of O-alkynylanilines With Electron-deficient Alkynes And Cyclizations Of 6, 7-epoxy-alkynes

The thesis deals with platinum and gold-catalyzed reactions which involve the activation of alkynes. It consists of two parts: In the first part, the recent progress in the area of homogenous platinum and gold catalysis is briefly reviewed with an emphasis on its synthetic applications. The second part describes our own efforts in finding synthetic applications for platinum and gold-catalyzed reactions of alkynes. We found that PtCl₂ could promote the reactions of indoles with ethyl propiolate. The composition of the products was largely influenced by the substituents on the indoles as well as the amount of ethyl propiolate used. o-Alkynylanilines could react with ethyl propiolate and dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate under the catalysis of PtCl₂, and the reactions proceeded though a sequential cyclization/intermolecular addition pathway. Beside this work, PtCl₂ and AuCl₂-catalyzed cyclization reactions of 6,7-epoxy-alkynes were also investigated. The reactions took place in methanol or in acetone, giving rise to six-membered oxygen- containing heterocycles.