Synthesis of α-CF3-substituted carbonyl compounds with relative and absolute stereocontrol using electrophilic...

Nucleophilic substitution in α-halocarbonyl compounds can be achieved via an SN2 pathway. The reaction in α-haloketones is generally carried out with less basic nucleophiles. The use of strong basic nucleophiles leads to the generation of α-haloenolate ions, which often participate in other side reactions.

α-Halogenation of aldehydes and ketones is a reaction involving the substitution of α hydrogens with halogens in the presence of a base.  The reaction begins with the abstraction of  α hydrogen by the base to produce a nucleophilic enolate ion. This intermediate undergoes a subsequent nucleophilic substitution with the halogen to produce a monohalogenated carbonyl compound. If the starting substrate has more than one α hydrogen, it is difficult to stop the reaction at the stage of...

α-Substituted ketones or aldehydes can be synthesized from enamines by the Stork enamine reaction, named after its pioneer Gilbert Stork. Enamines are useful synthetic intermediates where the lone pair on nitrogen is in conjugation with the C=C bond. They resemble enolate ions, as the resonance forms of both species have a nucleophilic α carbon.

Unlike aldehydes and ketones, carboxylic acids do not readily participate in α halogenation reactions via enols or enolate intermediates. However, α-halogenated acids are obtained through other methods. One of the approaches is the Hell–Volhard–Zelinsky (HVZ) reaction, wherein the carboxylic acid is treated with halogen in the presence of PBr3. It involves the conversion of acid to acid halide, which exists in equilibrium with its enol form. The enol attacks the electrophilic halogen to produce...

The Friedel–Crafts acylation reactions involve the addition of an acyl group to an aromatic ring. These reactions proceed via electrophilic aromatic substitution by employing an acyl chloride and a Lewis acid catalyst such as aluminum chloride to form aryl ketone.

The Claisen rearrangement is a [3,3] sigmatropic rearrangement of allyl vinyl ethers to unsaturated carbonyl compounds. The rearrangement is a concerted pericyclic reaction proceeding via a chair-like transition state.