1,4-Cyclohexadienes--easy access to a versatile building block via transition-metal-catalysed Diels-Alder reactions.

1,4-Cyclohexadiene derivatives are easily accessed via transition-metal cycloadditions of 1,3-dienes with alkynes. The mild reaction conditions of several transition-metal-catalysed reactions allows the incorporation of various functional groups to access functionalised 1,4-cyclohexadienes. The control of the regiochemistry in the intermolecular cobalt-catalysed Diels-Alder reaction is realised utilising different ligand designs. The functionalised 1,4-cyclohexadiene derivatives are valuable building blocks in follow-up transformations. Finally, the oxidation of the 1,4-cyclohexadienes can be accomplished under mild conditions to generate the corresponding arene derivatives.