Highly efficient Cu-catalyzed oxidative coupling of tertiary amines and siloxyfurans

A mild, selective, and efficient protocol for the synthesis of gamma-aminoalkyl butenolides via the oxidative coupling between tertiary amines and siloxyfurans catalyzed by simple copper salts was developed. Compared with the reported method, our method employs copper catalyst instead of the expensive rhodium catalyst. Besides TBHP, both O-2 and H2O2 can also be utilized as oxidant to effect the coupling. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.