Scope and mechanistic investigations of Pd-catalyzed coupling/cyclizations and cycloisomerizations of allenyl malonates.

Pd-catalyzed transformations of allenyl malonates provide convenient access to functionalized carbocycles, but the influence of the ligand, solvent, base, and reaction conditions on the mechanism, regioselectivity, and product outcome of the cyclization are not well-understood. Additionally, from the perspective of synthetic utility, access to either fully substituted or enantioenriched cyclopentane building blocks has not yet been achieved. This work describes how targeted changes to the reaction conditions enable predictable control over the mechanism of Pd-catalyzed allene cross-coupling/cyclization and cycloisomerization, irrespective of the allene substitution pattern. Both enantioenriched cyclopropanes and cyclopentenes can be obtained through axis-to-center chirality transfer from the allene precursor at room temperature, which is not possible using reported Pd-catalyzed methods that result in racemization of the allene. Finally, the ability to divert the reactivity of the allenyl malonate from cross-coupling/cyclization to cycloisomerization by a simple switch of the ligand on Pd from a bidentate phosphine to an electron-poor triphenylphosphite is demonstrated.