Palladium-Catalyzed\nIsomerization/Hydrocarbonylation\nof Electron-Deficient Alkenes for the Construction of Lactones and\nLactams

An efficient palladium-catalyzed isomerization/hydrocarbonylation\nof electron-deficient alkenes was developed, affording a variety of\nbenzofuran-2(3<i>H</i>)-ones, dihydrofuran-2(3<i>H</i>)-ones, indolin-2-ones, and isochroman-3-ones in high yields. The\nreaction exhibits excellent regioselectivity, high atom economy, and\na broad range of substrates. The late-stage modification of bioactive\nmolecules and scaled-up reaction demonstrated the practicability of\nthis methodology. Furthermore, the method was employed as the key\nstep for the synthesis of an insulin degrading enzyme (IDE) activator.