A Gold(I)-Catalyzed Hydroamination/Cycloisomerization Cascade: Concise Synthesis of (±)-seco-Antofine and (±)-Septicine.

A concise and flexible procedure for the synthesis of highly functionalized N-heterocyclic 1,6-annulated 2-pyridones and 2,3-annulated 4-pyrimidinones has been elaborated through a gold-catalyzed tandem hydroamination/cycloisomerization cascade. This novel and highly efficient method allows the rapid construction of these diverse N-heterocyclic scaffolds starting from readily available building blocks, and shows a wide scope and good functional group tolerance. The total synthesis of (±)-seco-antofine and (±)-septicine were realized employing this strategy.