Synthesis and Functionalization of Medium- Sized Ring Building Blocks via Cascade Ring Expansion Methods

This thesis describes the synthesis and application of 3-D medium-sized ring building blocks using cascade ring expansion methods. The "Nucleophilic catalyst Induced Cascade ring Expansion (NICE)" method is the primary research approach used for the synthesis of medium-sized ring structures in this project, with additional work exploring the "Conjugate Addition/Ring Expansion (CARE)” method also described. Functionalization of the medium- sized ring building blocks generated was also explored using Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling and N-functionalisation reactions.