Alkynyl thioethers in gold-catalyzed annulations to form oxazoles

Non-oxidative, regioselective, and convergent access to densely functionalized oxazoles is realized in a functional-group tolerant manner using alkynyl thioethers. Sulfur-terminated alkynes provide access to reactivity previously requiring strong donor-substituted alkynes such as ynamides. Sulfur does not act in an analogous donor fashion in this gold-catalyzed reaction, thus leading to complementary regioselective outcomes and addressing the limitations of using ynamides.