The first tertiary alkylations, alkoxyalkylations, and aldehyde enolate allylations are described proceeding with low catalyst loading (0.1 mol % to 5 mol %). The reactions proceed in short times, can be performed without solvent and under ambient conditions.
β-Alkoxy ketones are synthesized in good yields by the reaction of alkyl enol ethers with acetals in the presence of a catalytic amount of tritylsalts. Of enol ethers, methoxymethyl (MOM) enol ether exhibits an enhanced reactivity as a nucleophile.