A three-step sequence for the synthesis of alpha-arylated cyclohexanones and the most challenging cycloheptanones is reported. First, an efficient one-pot synthesis of beta,beta'-disubstituted benzylidene cycloalkanes (styrenes) using the palladium-catalyzed Barluenga reaction from readily available feedstock chemicals is described. Furthermore, an epoxidation followed by the House-Meinwald rearrangement (HMR) of spiro-epoxides is reported to produce a number of alpha-arylated cycloalkanones upon ring expansion. Reactions catalyzed by bismuth triflate underwent quasi-exclusively ring expansion for all substrates (electronically poor and rich), with yields ranging from 15% to 95%, thus demonstrating the difficulty of achieving ring enlargement for electron-deficient spiro-epoxides. On the other hand, by means of catalysis with aluminum trichloride, the rearrangement of Spiro-epoxides proceeded typically in high yields and with remarkable regioselectivity on a broader substrate scope. In this case, a switch of regioselectivity was achieved for spiro-epoxides with electron-withdrawing substituents which enable the method to be successfully extended to some chemospecific arene shifts and the synthesis of aldehydes bearing a a alpha-quaternary carbon. While the HMR has been extensively studied for smaller ring enlargement, we are pleased to report herein that larger cyclohexanones and cycloheptanones can be obtained efficiently from more sterically demanding trisubstituted spiro-epoxides bearing electron-releasing and electron-neutral arene substituents.
