Aliphatic aldehydes were reacted with nitro alkanes in the presence of catalytic amounts of piperidine over 4 Å molecular sieves. Simply by changing reaction conditions (solvent and temperature) it is possible to control the stereochemical outcome of the reactions, obtaining pure (E)-and (Z)-nitro alkenes in high to excellent yields. The role of molecular sieves on the stereochemical control seems crucial in addition to that of piperidine, especially for the ...
