NHC-Catalyzed Formal [4 + 2] Annulation of -Formyl-Tethered Michael Acceptors and Ynones to Access Highly Functionalized Naphthalene Derivatives.

Herein we demonstrate a novel organocatalytic method to access multifunctionalized naphthalenes an NHC-catalyzed reaction of ynones and -formyl-tethered Michael acceptors. The presented method proceeds through an intermolecular Stetter reaction-cyclization-aromatization cascade and represents a rare example of organocatalytic benzannulation for the synthesis of substituted arenes by using ynone as a two-carbon synthon. The current method has broad substrate scope; postsynthetic transformations and gram-scale syntheses highlight the practicality of the displayed methodology.