AbstractTreatment of a titanatrane complex with trimethylsilyl chloride and magnesium powder in tetrahydrofuran generated a low‐valent titanium species. This species catalyzed the radical ring opening of epoxides and oxetanes to produce the corresponding less substituted alcohols. The reagent also catalyzed the deallylation and depropargylation of allylic and propargylic ethers, respectively, to provide the parent alcohols.magnified image
mixtures of isomers and substantial polymerization. The reaction took place under exceptionally mild reaction conditions and very low catalyst loading (0.5 mol %). DFT calculations disclose the mechanistic features of the isomerization and account for the high selectivity displayed by the B(C6 F5 )3 catalyst. The synthetic applicability of the newreaction is demonstrated by the preparation of γ-chiral