Cyclisation of Propargyl and Allyl Amides: Syntheses of Oxazolines

This thesis describes several approaches to the synthesis of dihydrooxazoles (oxazolines) by
the cyclisation of unsaturated amides.
The first major approach to the synthesis of substituted dihydrooxazoles is the CuI-catalysed
cycloisomerisation of terminal propargyl amides. The reaction has been shown to have good substrate scope and experiments to delineate the mechanism have been performed. Substrates containing a benzylic methylene were oxidised to the ketone under the reaction conditions.

The second major focus of this thesis is the cyclisation of N-alkenylamides catalysed by
iodoarenes under oxidative conditions. Dihydrooxazoles were prepared by this route with a
range of substitution patterns in good yields.