Dedicated to Professor Masahiro Murakami with appreciation for his outstanding contributions as scientist and scholar.
An environmentally friendly stereoselective synthesis of 2,3-dihydrobenzofurans and 1,2,3-trisubstituted indanes in water has been achieved by using a permethylated β-cyclodextrin-tagged N-heterocyclic carbene–gold complex. The gold catalyst can be recycled at least five times.
Key words
gold catalysis - cyclodextrins - water - catalyst recycling - benzofurans - indanes