Transition-Metal-Free Catalytic Formal Hydroacylation of Terminal Alkynes

Abstract

Although hydroacylation is a very useful reaction for producing ketones from aldehydes with 100% atom efficiency, classical Rh-catalyzed hydroacylation presents several problems, including the need for transition metal catalysts, unwanted decarbonylation of aldehydes, and difficulty in regioselectivity control. However, formal hydroacylation utilizing the nucleophilicity of terminal alkynes can avoid these problems. In this work, we have achieved transition-metal-free formal hydroacylation of terminal alkynes using an Mg3Al–CO3-layered double hydroxide as a heterogeneous catalyst. This system was applicable to the efficient synthesis of α,β-unsaturated ketones with various substituents, and the catalyst can be reused without a significant loss of catalytic performance.