To better understand the implications of this unusual cascade reaction, we investigated its scope and possible mechanism and report our findings herein. The reaction parameters were systematically optimized using 1,1,1-trichloroalkane 5, α,β-unsaturated ketone 6, CrCl 2 (6 equiv), and CuCN (1.2 equiv) as the benchmark system. Yields of 7 were best in THF (Table 1, entry 1), somewhat lower in DME, CH 3 CN, and dioxane, and poor in DMF, HMPA, DMSO, and EtOAc. The ...
