Tetrahedron letters

Conjugate addition of organolithium reagents to α, β-unsaturated carboxylic acids

MJ Aurell, R Mestres, E Muñoz

Index: Aurell, Maria Jose; Mestres, Ramon; Munoz, Elena Tetrahedron Letters, 1998 , vol. 39, # 35 p. 6351 - 6354

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Citation Number: 10

Abstract

Conjugate addition of primary, secondary, tertiary alkyl and phenyl lithium reagents to 2- alkenoic acids affords good yields of branched saturated carboxylic acids. Substitution by methyl groups at the α-carbon strongly decreases reactivity, whereas deprotonation of the starting acid occurs almost exclusively with methyl substitution at the β-carbon of the 2- alkenoic acid.