Tunable Reaction Mode of Bifunctional Peroxides with Ketones to Access α-Oxacyclic Ketones and Enals

Org Lett. 2022 Nov 18;24(45):8387-8391. doi: 10.1021/acs.orglett.2c03440. Epub 2022 Nov 9.

Abstract

A new annulation reaction between allylic/benzylic peroxides and ketones has been developed to provide the α-oxacyclic ketones in moderate yields under the KOtBu basic conditions. Mechanistic studies reveal that these peroxides undergo the Kornblum-DeLaMare rearrangement to release the aldehyde intermediates and subsequently initiate the aldol/etherification tandem process to deliver the final products. Accordingly, these peroxides serving as "masked" enals have also been utilized to prepare the previously hard-to-achieve α-enal-tethered ketones in one step.