Rhodium-Catalyzed Intermolecular Cyclopropanation of Benzofurans, Indoles, and Alkenes via Cyclopropene Ring Opening

The generation of metal carbenoids via ring opening of cyclopropenes by transition metals offers a simple entry into highly reactive intermediates. Herein, we describe a diastereoselective intermolecular rhodium-catalyzed cyclopropanation of heterocycles and alkenes using cyclopropenes as carbene precursors with a low loading of a commercially available rhodium catalyst. The reported method is scalable and could be performed with catalyst loadings as low as 0.2 mol %, with no impact to the reaction yield or selectivity.