Pd-Catalyzed Synthesis of γ-Keto Esters as Key Intermediates for the Synthesis of γ-Hydroxybutenolides

We herein report a robust and safe palladium catalyzed domino-carbonylation/Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reaction of vinyltosylates with arylboronic acids using Mo(CO)(6) as CO-source. The derived gamma-keto ester were subsequently cyclized under acidic conditions to obtain gamma-hydroxybutenolides, an important structural motif, which occurs in biologically active natural products.