Palladium-Catalyzed Cascade Difluoroalkylation/Cyclization of N-Propargylamides: Synthesis of Oxazoles and Oxazolines

A palladium-catalyzed process to construct oxazoles and oxazolines with broad functional-group tolerance has been developed, and the method introduces difluoromethyl groups into heterocycles in a one-pot fashion. This system uses a carbonyl oxygen as the acceptor for the addition of a vinylpalladium intermediate to achieve the cyclization. Oxazoline derivatives are generated as the Z-isomer with high stereoselectivity. Additionally, we validated the tentative mechanism of this reaction.