Oxidative Alkynylation of Alcohols or Aldehydes Using RuHCl(CO)(PPh3)3: Ynones Made Easy.

Structurally diverse alcohols (or aldehydes) react with (triisopropylsilyl)acetylene to form α,β-acetylenic ketones (ynones) in good to excellent yield. This method for oxidative alkynylation exploits the commercially available air-stable precatalyst RuHCl(CO)(PPh3)3 rather than the iodide-bound precatalyst RuI(η3-C3H5)(CO)3, which is sensitive and not available for purchase.