Au(I)‐Catalyzed Triple Bond Alkoxylation/Dienolether Aromaticity‐Driven Cascade Cyclization to Naphthalenes.

A novel strategy for the synthesis of multisubstituted naphthalenes was developed via a Au(I)-catalyzed alkyne alkoxylation/dienolether aromaticity-driven cascade cyclization using 1,5-enyne substrates. The functional group toleration was examined by synthesizing a series of substrates and the mechanism was also studied based on intermediates isolated through deuterium labeling experiments.