Synthesis of Benzofuranones via Palladium-Catalyzed Intramolecular Alkoxycarbonylation of Alkenylphenols.

Herein, a new catalytic system to synthesize benzofuranones is reported. A palladium-catalyzed intramolecular alkoxycarbonylation is employed to generate 3-substituted-benzofuran-2(3H)-ones from alkenylphenols under mild reaction conditions, linked to an ex situ formation of CO from N-formylsaccharin. The carefully chosen catalytic system enables an efficient reaction with a novel functional group tolerance, despite the high polymerization tendency of the starting material.