Mild C-C Bond Formation via Lewis Acid Catalyzed Oxetane Ring Opening with Soft Carbon Nucleophiles.

Mild oxetane opening by soft carbon nucleophiles has been developed for efficient C-C bond formation. In the presence of LiNTf or TBSNTf as catalyst, silyl ketene acetals were found to be effective nucleophiles to generate a wide range of highly oxygenated molecules, which are key substructure in natural products like polyketides. Furthermore, intramolecular oxetane opening by a styrene-based carbon nucleophile via a Prins-type process was also achieved with Sc(OTf) as catalyst, leading to efficient formation of the useful 2,3-dihydrobenzo[b]oxepine skeleton.