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Updated: Aug 15, 2026

Facile Preparation of (2Z,4E)-Dienamides by the Olefination of Electron-deficient Alkenes with Allyl Acetate
Published on: June 21, 2017
Trans- and cis-selective Lewis acid catalyzed hydrogermylation of alkynes
Todd Schwier1, Vladimir Gevorgyan
1Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Chicago, 845 West Taylor Street, Chicago, Illinois 60607-7061, USA.
Abstract:
[reactions: see text] The first examples of Lewis acid catalyzed hydrogermylation of alkynes have been demonstrated. It was found that this method has much higher functional group compatibility compared to the known Lewis acid catalyzed hydrosilylation and hydrostannation reactions. Remarkably, the stereochemical outcome of this hydrogermylation reaction depends on the nature of the alkyne used: proceeding via a trans-addition pathway with simple alkynes and cis-addition with propiolates. Mechanistic studies strongly support the proposed rationale on the origins of cis-selectivity in the hydrogermylation of activated alkynes.
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Like alkenes, alkynes can be reduced to alkanes in the presence of transition metal catalysts such as Pt, Pd, or Ni. The reaction involves two sequential syn additions of hydrogen via a cis-alkene intermediate.
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One of the convenient methods for the preparation of aldehydes and ketones is via hydration of alkynes. Hydroboration-oxidation of alkynes is an indirect hydration reaction in which an alkyne is treated with borane followed by oxidation with alkaline peroxide to form an enol that rapidly converts into an aldehyde or a ketone. Terminal alkynes form aldehydes, whereas internal alkynes give ketones as the final product.
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Analogous to alkenes, alkynes also undergo acid-catalyzed hydration. While the addition of water to an alkene gives an alcohol, hydration of alkynes produces different products such as aldehydes and ketones.
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Halogenation is another class of electrophilic addition reactions where a halogen molecule gets added across a π bond. In alkynes, the presence of two π bonds allows for the addition of two equivalents of halogens (bromine or chlorine). The addition of the first halogen molecule forms a trans-dihaloalkene as the major product and the cis isomer as the minor product. Subsequent addition of the second equivalent yields the tetrahalide.
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