a-Diketones are prepared from both alkyl aryl alkynes and diarylalkynes in good to excellent yields with the use of mercuric salts such as mercury (II) nitrate or mercury (II) trifluoromethanesulfonate in the presence of water. A plausible mechanism is proposed. Furthermore, based on our proposed mechanism, an alternative method was developed eliminating the environmentally hazardous mercuric salts and using environmentally benign gold (III) or palladium (II) salts as oxidants with cerium (III) nitrate hexahydrate as the nitrate source.

Synthesis of a-diketones from alkynes under mild and potential environmentally benign conditions

248th National Meeting (2014)

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