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Updated: Jan 22, 2026

Efficient Synthesis of All-Carbon Quaternary Centers via the Conjugate Addition of Functionalized Monoorganozinc Bromides
Published on: May 26, 2019
Access to Benzylic Quaternary Carbons from Aromatic Ketones
You Li1, Jingpeng Han2, Han Luo2
1State Key Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry (SKLAOC), College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering , Lanzhou University , 222 South Tianshui Road , Lanzhou , 730000 , P. R. China.
Abstract:
The construction of benzylic all-carbon quaternary stereocenters, which are ubiquitous in biomolecules and drugs, is a task of high practical significance. Herein, we disclose a highly efficient one-pot method of constructing all-carbon quaternary structural units from aryl ketones, revealing that the entire process involves three consecutive chemical events, namely nucleophilic addition, Meinwald 1,2-hydrogen migration, and alkylation. Interestingly, dimerization of acetophenones results in formation of 2,4-diarylfurans under the employed conditions rather than the quaternary carbon products.
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