Palladium-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling Reaction and Gold-Catalyzed Cyclization for Preparation of Ethyl 2-Aryl 2,3-Alkadienoates and α-Aryl γ-Butenolides

Efficient synthetic method for the preparation of ethyl 2-aryl-2,3-alkadienoates through Pd-catalyzed selective allenyl cross-coupling reactions of aryl iodides with organoindiums generated in situ from indium and ethyl 4-bromo-2-alkynoate was developed. The cyclization reaction of ethyl 2-aryl-2,3-alkadienoates catalyzed by $AuCl_3$ and AgOTf in the presence of AcOH or TfOH produced various ${\alpha}$-aryl ${\gamma}$-butenolides or ${\gamma}$-substituted ${\alpha}$-aryl ${\gamma}$-butenolides.