Allenolate protonation

Regarding the first problem, the most elemental treatment consists of focusing on a few points on the gas-phase potential energy hypersurface, namely, the reactants, transition state structures and products. As an example, we will mention the work [35,36] that was done on the Meyer-Schuster reaction, an acid catalyzed rearrangement of a-acetylenic secondary and tertiary alcohols to a.p-unsaturatcd carbonyl compounds, in which the solvent plays an active role. This reaction comprises four steps. In the first, a rapid protonation takes place at the hydroxyl group. The second, which is the rate limiting step, is an apparent 1, 3-shift of the protonated hydroxyl group from carbon Ci to carbon C3. The third step is presumably a rapid allenol deprotonation, followed by a keto-enol equilibrium that leads to the final product. 

Significant mechanistic insights into the DABCO-catalysed isomerization of y-hydroxy-o ,/3-alkynyl esters to y-oxo-a,p-trans-alkenyl esters have been reported.33 The reaction mechanism involves cumulene formation, protonation with the conjugate acid of the amine, and protonation of the resulting allenol with water. 

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