Intermolecular Sonogashira Coupling and Intramolecular 5- Exo - dig Cycloisomerization Cascade: A One-Pot Pathway for Accessing (3-Benzylbenzofuran-2-yl)(phenyl)methanones.

Herein, we present an efficient and straightforward strategy enabling access to 2,3-disubstituted benzo[ b ]furans. The whole synthetic process proceeds via a domino intermolecular Sonogashira coupling of 2-(2-bromophenoxy)-1-phenylethan-1-ones/alkyl 2-(2-bromophenoxy)acetates/2-(2-bromophenoxy)acetonitrile/1-(2-bromophenoxy)propan-2-one with terminal acetylenes followed by an intramolecular carbanion-yne cyclization in a 5- exo - dig manner and subsequent double-bond isomerization. Notably, two C-C bonds have been constructed in a one-pot manner and a wide variety of (3-benzylbenzofuran-2-yl)(phenyl)methanones were accomplished with good functional group tolerance.