Gold‐Catalyzed Intramolecular Dearomatization of Phenols with Allenoates for the Synthesis of Spirocyclohexadienones

Abstract Although gold‐catalysis has emerged as an important tool in organic chemistry, its applications in dearomatization reactions have remained largely unexplored. Herein, we report the first example of the dearomatization of phenols involving allenoates catalyzed by Au(I). And a large number of spirocyclohexadienones has been efficiently synthesized with excellent yields under the optimized conditions. Moreover, these phenolic compounds bearing the allenoates can be prepared via the intermolecular remote‐Rauhut‐Currier reaction between allenoates and para ‐quinones catalyzed by nucleophilic phosphines in a short time. The applications of 3 a and gram‐scale synthesis of 4 a were also preliminarily examined. magnified image