Beilstein Journal of Organic Chemistry (Aug 2022)
Electroreductive coupling of 2-acylbenzoates with α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds: density functional theory study on product selectivity
Abstract
The electroreductive coupling of 2-acylbenzoates with acrylonitrile in the presence of TMSCl and successive treatment with 1 M HCl gave 2-cyanonaphthalen-1-ols or 3-(3-cyanoethyl)phthalides. On the other hand, the reaction of 2-acylbenzoates with methyl vinyl ketone under the same conditions produced 3-(3-oxobutyl)phthalides as the sole products. What determines the product selectivity was studied using DFT calculations.
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