Copper (II) Triflate Catalyzed Regioselective Markovnikov Hydration of Alkynes

Hassam and Li have reported an efficient Cu(OTf)₂ catalyzed regioselective Markovnikov hydration of terminal and internal alkynes. Generally, hydration reactions of alkynes are carried out in the presence of Lewis acids with the addition of some additives, and in many cases they take a long time to complete the reactions. While, in an ethyl acetate solvent, the Cu(OTf)₂ catalyzed reaction proceeds successfully without the addition of any additives with a shorter reaction time compared to other conventional methods. Furthermore, they have applied the reaction to propargylic alcohols to give corresponding products via Meyer-Schuster / Rupe rearrangement.