A Novel Acetonylation of Carbonucleophiles via Palladium-Catalyzed Allylation with Isopropyl 2-Methylene-3,5-dioxahexyl Carbonate

Abstract

Carbonucleophiles such as malonate esters, ß-keto esters, phenylacetate ester, and phenylacetonitrile were acetonylated in high yields by allylation with isopropyl (or methyl) 2-methylene-3,5-dioxahexyl carbonate (4b or 4a) in the presence of palladium-phosphine catalyst under neutral conditions, followed by acidic hydrolysis. Adopting this procedure dihydrojasmone (7) was prepared from ethyl 3-oxononanoate (6) in an overall yield of 72%.