Acyl/aroyl Meldrum’s acid as an enol surrogate for the direct organocatalytic synthesis of α,β-unsaturated ketones

The operationally simple, robust and straightforward organocatalytic protocol is developed for the synthesis of E-selective α,β-unsaturated ketones. The method utilizes simple and easily accessible starting materials such as Meldrum’s acid, carboxylic acid, aldehyde and simple bifunctional amine catalyst. The tandem organocatalytic process utilizes acyl/aroyl Meldrum’s acid as an enol surrogate for the effective Doebner-Knoevenagel type condensation reactions. A wide variety of aldehydes, carboxylic acids and base sensitive functional groups are well tolerated under the mild reaction conditions.