The current interest of our research lies in the development of new methodology for carbocyclic and heterocyclic intramolecular ring formations. We are currently investigating the employment of transition metal catalysts, particularly those of noble metals such as gold and platinum complexes, for these processes. Substrates which have been our investigative focus at present are alcohols and amines containing conjugated enyne moiety of various tether lengths. At the same time, we are also actively looking into the possibility of applying these catalytic systems in cascade or tandem reactions for the rapid construction of molecular architecture of high complexity. This will further aid the synthetic studies of a number of natural and unnatural compounds of interest and eventually lead to the total synthesis of these compounds.
Conjugated enyne moiety is a structural feature which have often been employed in synthetic applications due to their dense functionality which are suitable for many reactions. The alkyne portion embedded in these enynes can undergo nucleometallation with various nucleophiles upon activation with suitable catalysts.