Au(I)-catalyzed efficient synthesis of α-acyloxy-α′-silyl ketones from α-acyloxy-α-alkynylsilanes

The Au(I)-catalyzed novel conversion of α-acyloxy-α-alkynylsilanes to α-acyloxy-α′-silyl ketones is reported. Ph3PAuOTf in dioxane in the presence of 1 equiv of H2O efficiently catalyzed both the [3,3] sigmatropic rearrangement and allenic transformation of the resulting ester to give the α-acyloxy-α′-silyl ketones in a one-pot procedure.