The valuable N-unsubstituted 4-aryl-3, 5-diacyl-1, 4-dihydropyridines 12b–f, bearing an electron-withdrawing substituent at the benzene ring, have been synthesized by the copper- mediated addition of functionalized arylmagnesium reagents 2b–f to N- benzhydrylpyridinium salt 9, followed by acylation with trichloroacetic anhydride and the subsequent haloform reaction and N-deprotection.
