Gold-Catalyzed Oxidation Terminal Alkyne: An Approach to Synthesize Substituted Dihydronaphthalen-2(1H)-ones and Phenanthrenols.

A facile gold-catalyzed oxidation terminal alkynes to synthesize substituted dihydronaphthalen-2(1H)-ones 3 and phenanthrenols 5 was realized. Various useful structures and drug precursors were generated in up to 99% yield under mild condition and low catalyst loading.