Tetrahedron Letters, Vol. 56, Issue 44, Elsevier, 28 October 2015.
The first report of Lewis acid use in intramolecular Rauhut鈥揅urrier reactions is described. Titanium Lewis acids lead to rapid Rauhut鈥揅urrier reactions in the case of two classic substrates. More importantly, titanium and tin Lewis acids were the only successful reagent for a more complex substrate, thereby illustrating the potential for Lewis acid reagents to facilitate challenging intramolecular Rauhut鈥揅urrier reactions that fail with traditional reagents.