Decarboxylative Benzylation of Alkynes and Substituted Ketones

Abstract

The benzyl esters of propiolic and β-keto acids were shown to undergo a decarboxylative coupling under palladium catalysis. Remarkably, this method does not only allow C-C bond formations leading to quaternary all-carbon centers, but also the construction of 1,4-ketone analogues that cannot be accessed via common base-mediated enolate reactions.