A New Functional Metathesis of Conjugated Cyclohexenones

Abstract

The importance of conjugated cyclohexenone synthons in synthetic organic chemistry is widely recognized.¹ These moieties are present in a wide variety of natural products and other interesting substrates, and can be synthesized by several efficient and general procedures, developed and tested over the past four decades. The synthetic versatility of these synthons is unmatched. New carbon-carbon bonds may be selectively introduced at the carbonyl function, the α-position, the β-position and the α'-position. The remaining functional groups may then undergo a variety of transformations, including-in many cases-aromatization to substituted phenols, carbonium ion rearrangements and photochemical rearrangements.