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Updated: Apr 11, 2026

A Microwave-Assisted Direct Heteroarylation of Ketones Using Transition Metal Catalysis
Published on: February 16, 2020
Reductive alkylation of active methylene compounds with carbonyl derivatives, calcium hydride and a heterogeneous
Carole Guyon1, Marie-Christine Duclos, Marc Sutter
1Equipe Catalyse Synthèse Environnement, Institut de Chimie et Biochimie Moléculaires et Supramoléculaires, UMR-CNRS 5246, Université de Lyon, Université Claude Bernard-Lyon 1, Bâtiment Curien, 43 boulevard du 11 Novembre 1918, F-69622 Villeurbanne Cedex, France. estelle.metay@univ-lyon1.fr.
Abstract:
A one-pot two-step reaction (Knoevenagel condensation - reduction of the double bond) has been developed using calcium hydride as a reductant in the presence of a supported noble metal catalyst. The reaction between carbonyl compounds and active methylene compounds such as methylcyanoacetate, 1,3-dimethylbarbituric acid, dimedone and the more challenging dimethylmalonate, affords the corresponding monoalkylated products in moderate to good yields (up to 83%) with minimal reduction of the starting carbonyl compounds.
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