Controllable highly stereoselective reaction of in situ generated magnesium dienolate intermediates with different electrophiles

In this paper, we have described an efficient controllable stereoselective alpha-acylation and -allylation reaction of the magnesium dienolate intermediates generated in situ from the Fe(III)-catalyzed reaction between 2,3-allenoates and Grignard reagents with different electrophiles to afford 2-acylated or allylated 3( Z)- or ( E)-alkenoates depending on the nature of the electrophiles and reaction conditions. The distinct stereoselectivity may be caused by the isomerization of metallic Z-1,3-dienoate to E-1,3-dienoate via the intermediacy of anti-allylic MgCl and syn-metallic species.