An efficient and high-yielding “hydrogen-free” reduction of α,β-unsaturated alkenes was carried out employing Grubbs' catalyst in a non-metathetic role and Et₃SiH. Conditions were optimized under microwave irradiation. Application to the solid-phase organic synthesis allows a facile construction of sp³–sp³carbon bonds through a sequential cross metathesis/olefin reduction.

Propargylamines have gained importance in the area of anticancer research. We synthesized 1-substituted propargylic tertiary amines using the A³-coupling as the key step. Both, solution and solid-phase protocols, were used to provide a library of 1-substituted propargylic tertiary amines with interesting structural diversity. The triple negative breast cancer subtype is the most aggressive and it lacks effective therapeutic options, while pancreatic cancer is one of the neoplasms with worse prognosis and limited therapeutic possibilities. The development of tumor-selective drugs has always been a major challenge in cancer treatment. From our library, two propargylamines displayed a high degree of cytotoxic selectivity. These levels of selectivity give a very interesting perspective for further development of 1-substituted propargylic tertiary amines as new potential chemotherapeutic antitumor agents.

A gold-catalyzed cyclization of immobilized 2-alkynylanilines was developed as the key step in the synthetic sequence for the preparation of 2-substituted indoles. These results demonstrate the potential of the unexplored combination of gold catalysis and solid-phase organic synthesis.

Olefin cross metathesis on solid support under a variety of conditions is described. A comprehensive analysis considering diverse factors governing the reaction outcome gives a series of patterns for the application of this useful methodology in organic synthesis. If the intrasite reaction is not possible, homodimerization of the soluble olefin is crucial. When the homodimer is less reactive than its monomer, reaction outcome depends on the homodimerization rate, which, in turn, depends on the precatalyst used and the reaction conditions. If the site–site interaction is a feasible process, the cross metathesis product is obtained exclusively when the newly-formed double bond is resilient to further metathetic events. Taking into account these considerations, we have demonstrated that excellent results in terms of cross metathesis coupling can be obtained under the optimized conditions, and that microwave irradiation is also an interesting alternative for the development of a practical and energy-efficient cross metathesis on solid support.