Carbonyl cross-metathesis via deoxygenative gem-di-metal catalysis.

ABSTRACT

Carbonyls and alkenes are versatile functional groups, whose reactivities are cornerstones of organic synthesis. The selective combination of two carbonyls to form an alkene-a carbonyl cross-metathesis-would be a valuable tool for their exchange. Yet, this important synthetic challenge remains unsolved. Although alkene/alkene and alkene/carbonyl cross-metathesis reactions are known, there is a lack of analogous methods for deoxygenative cross-coupling of two carbonyl compounds. Here we report a pair of strategies for the cross-metathesis of unbiased carbonyls, allowing an aldehyde to be chemo- and stereoselectively combined with another aldehyde or ketone. These mild, catalytic methods are promoted by earth-abundant metal salts and enable rapid access to an unprecedentedly broad range of either Z- or E-alkenes by two distinct mechanisms-entailing transiently generated (1) carbenes and ylides (via Fe catalysis) or (2) doubly nucleophilic gem-di-metallics (via Cr catalysis).