Synthesis of Substituted Indene Derivatives via Silver-catalyzed Annulative 1:1 Coupling of Secondary Benzyl Alcohols with Alkynes

The annulative coupling of secondary benzyl alcohols with internal alkynes efficiently proceeds in the presence a silver catalyst. reaction gives 1,2,3-substituted indene derivatives selectively as 1:1 products. procedure provides straightforward synthetic route to indenes from readily available starting materials upon treatment simple system under mild conditions.