Unconventional gold-catalyzed one-pot/multicomponent synthesis of propargylamines starting from benzyl alcohols

Abstract

A formal homogeneous gold-catalyzed A3-coupling, starting from benzyl alcohols, is reported for the straightforward synthesis of propargylamines. This is the first process where these highly valuable compounds have been synthesized, starting from the corresponding alcohols in a one-pot oxidation procedure using MnO2, followed by a HAuCl4·3H2O catalyzed multicomponent reaction. The final products are obtained with very good yields in short reaction times, which is of fundamental interest for the synthesis of pharmaceuticals. The usefulness and efficiency of our methodology is successfully compared against the same reaction starting from aldehydes.