Gold catalyzed oxycyclizations of alkynols and alkyndiols

Alkynols and alkyndiols represent excellent building blocks for oxycyclization reactions, leading to a large number of different cyclic structures in one single step. Recently, the use of gold salts and gold complexes has been introduced as an alternative to the traditional methods, providing mild reaction conditions and high group compatibility. This overview focuses on the most recent achievements on gold-catalyzed oxycyclizations, both from alkynols and alkyndiols, and their use in different cascade processes and total synthesis.