Access to Benzylic Quaternary Carbons from Aromatic Ketones

Org Lett. 2019 Aug 2;21(15):6050-6053. doi: 10.1021/acs.orglett.9b02204. Epub 2019 Jul 16.

Abstract

The construction of benzylic all-carbon quaternary stereocenters, which are ubiquitous in biomolecules and drugs, is a task of high practical significance. Herein, we disclose a highly efficient one-pot method of constructing all-carbon quaternary structural units from aryl ketones, revealing that the entire process involves three consecutive chemical events, namely nucleophilic addition, Meinwald 1,2-hydrogen migration, and alkylation. Interestingly, dimerization of acetophenones results in formation of 2,4-diarylfurans under the employed conditions rather than the quaternary carbon products.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't