Decarbalkoxylation of (β-Ketoesters and Gem-Diesters Initiated by Iodotrimethylsilane

Abstract

Decarbalkoxylation of β-ketoesters and gem-diesters constitutes a nontrivial step in the classical methods for carbon chain lengthening, even though it can be accomplished by hydrolytic procedures. An improved method discovered by Krapcho¹ involves heating these esters in wet dimethyl sulfoxide with or without an alkali metal salt (NaCl, NaCN).