α-Aryl-Substituted Allenamides in an Imino-Nazarov Cyclization Cascade Catalyzed by Au(I)

An imino-Nazarov cyclization using alpha-aryl-substituted allenamides is described. This gold(I)-catalyzed cascade is efficient and regioselective in constructing a diverse array of synthetically useful aromatic-ring fused cyclopentenamides. The success in this transformation represents a solution to the challenge in establishing an imino-Nazarov cyclization process.