Facile Construction of the Benzofuran and Chromene Ring Systems via PdII-Catalyzed Oxidative Cyclization

[reaction: see text]. We herein report the development of one-pot procedures for the conversion of allyl aryl ethers to 2-methylbenzofurans (via sequential Claisen rearrangement and oxidative cyclization) and for the conversion of aryl homoallyl ethers to chromenes (via direct oxidative cyclization). It is likely that both reactions proceed via a common Pd-catalyzed pathway involving olefin activation, nucleophilic attack, and beta-hydride elimination.