Zn(OTf)2-Catalyzed Phosphinylation of Propargylic Alcohols: Access to γ-Ketophosphine Oxides.

The first facile and efficient Zn(OTf)2-catalyzed direct coupling of unprotected propargylic alcohols with arylphosphine oxides has been developed, affording a general, one-step approach to access structurally diverse γ-ketophosphine oxides via sequential Meyer-Schuster rearrangement/phospha-Michael reaction along with new C(sp3)-P and C═O bond formations, operational simplicity, and complete atom economy under ligand-free and base-free conditions.