Gold(I)-catalyzed synthesis of furans and pyrroles via alkyne hydration

Furans and pyrroles were prepared via the gold(I)-catalyzed alkyne hydration of diynes. The use of [Au(IPr)OH] as precatalyst in a silver-free protocol permits low catalyst loadings and in situ generation of the active cationic gold species. A detailed computational study confirmed the experimental results and supports the proposed mechanism.