Gold-catalyzed generation of azafulvenium from an enyne sulfonamide: rapid access to fully substituted pyrroles

An effective gold-catalyzed protocol for the synthesis of fully substituted pyrroles from enyne sulfonamides has been developed. The reaction was designed to interrupt the traditional 1,3-H shift aromatization process through the oxidation of 3-methylene dihydropyrrole and the generation of the key intermediate azafulvenium.