Synthesis of tetrasubstituted furans via In-catalyzed propargylation of 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds-cyclization tandem process

An efficient method to synthesize tetrasubstituted furans using simple starting materials such as propargylic alcohols and 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds has been developed. It was discovered that InCl3 could catalyze this transformation efficiently while other simple iron, copper and silver salts were proven to be ineffective.