Taming furfuryl cations for the synthesis of privileged structures and novel scaffolds.

Furfuryl cations are generated via a highly efficient bismuth-catalyzed reaction of furfuryl alcohols. This systematic study provides insight on the reactivity profile of furfuryl cations towards nucleophilic substitution reactions. Novel C-C, C-N, C-O and C-S bond forming reactions of furfuryl cations have been developed, thus providing access to a diverse array of building blocks for further manipulations.