One-Pot and Unsymmetrical Bis-Allylation of Malononitrile with Conjugated Dienes and Allylic Alcohols

Org Lett. 2022 Dec 30;24(51):9355-9360. doi: 10.1021/acs.orglett.2c03405. Epub 2022 Dec 15.

Abstract

A Pd/Ca catalytic system to promote the unsymmetrical bis-allylation of malononitrile was developed by selecting conjugated dienes and allylic alcohols as allylic reagents. This catalytic system suppressed the competitive symmetrical bis-allylation process and guaranteed the desired unsymmetrical bis-allylation with high chemoselectivity. A wide range of conjugated dienes and allylic alcohols were tolerated well in this transformation, and diverse 1,6-dienes were obtained with high efficiency.