Ring Closing Alkyne Metathesis
Alkyne metathesis is extensively used in ring-closing operations and RCAM stands for ring closing alkyne metathesis. The olfactory molecule civetone can be synthesised from a di-alkyne. After ring closure the new triple bond is stereoselectively reduced with hydrogen and the lindlar catalyst in order to obtain the Z-alkene (cyclic E-alkenes are available through the Birch reduction). An important driving force for this type of reaction is the expulsion of small gaseous molecules such as acetylene or 2-butyne.
The same two-step procedure was used in the synthesis of the naturally occurring cyclophane turriane.
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