Manganese-Catalyzed Carbonylative Annulations for Redox-Neutral Late-Stage Diversification.

An inexpensive, nontoxic manganese catalyst enabled unprecedented redox-neutral carbonylative annulations under ambient pressure. The manganese catalyst outperformed all other typically used base and precious-metal catalysts. The outstanding versatility of the manganese catalysis manifold was reflected by ample substrate scope, setting the stage for effective late-stage manipulations under racemization-free conditions of a wealth of marketed drugs and natural products, including alkaloids, amino acids, steroids, and carbohydrates.