Brønsted Acid-Catalyzed Carbonyl-Olefin Metathesis: Synthesis of Phenanthrenes via Phosphomolybdic Acid as a Catalyst.

Compared with the impressive achievements of catalytic carbonyl-olefin metathesis (CCOM) mediated by Lewis acid catalysts, exploration of the CCOM through Brønsted acid-catalyzed approaches remains quite challenging. Herein, we disclose a synthetic protocol for the construction of a valuable polycycle scaffold through the CCOM with the inexpensive, nontoxic phosphomolybdic acid as a catalyst. The current annulations could realize carbonyl-olefin, carbonyl-alcohol, and acetal-alcohol in situ CCOM reactions and feature mild reaction conditions, simple manipulation, and scalability, making this strategy a promising alternative to the Lewis acid-catalyzed COM reaction.