Our growing interests in oxygen-containing compounds, such as the benzopyranone and novobiocin, have also focused on their preparation via the Cu(I)-mediated/MW-assisted C–O and C–N bond formations using subcritical water. Moreover, the modern practice of metal catalysis has been used to increase the efficiency of organic reactions. Thus, the use of organopalladium for the C–H activation chemistry, as well as salts/complexes of platinum or gold for various cyclizations, has been the focus of our current research. Different 2-arylchromans, which are important cores of a number of natural products, can be readily prepared via platinum-catalyzed reactions of a highly reactive intermediate ortho-quinone methide. In addition, we have also been interested in organolithium chemistry, especially in the context of the synthesis of unsymmetrical benzils and their applications to the synthesis of bioactive natural products, licoagrodione, scandione, and calophione A.