Enantioenriched aldol products derived from enones are notoriously difficult to prepare due to their sensitivity to retroaldolisation, elimination and the requirement of a large excess of the enone donor for their preparation. However, some success has been obtained for the preparation of aldol products derived from methylvinylketone and penterione using zinc-dinuclear catalysts or catalytic antibodies. Herein, we describe how simple first-generation hydroxyenones can be easily elongated by alkene exchange with structurally diverse olefinic partners in the presence of Ru-based metathesis catalysts allowing for the preparation of aldol products difficult to access by direct aldolisation. The data suggest that even though unprotected aldols are suitable for these cross-metatbesis reactions, silyl-protected beta-hydroxyenones generally afforded the desired elongated products in much higher chemical yields. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Enantioenriched aldol products derived from enones are notoriously difficult to prepare due to their sensitivity to retroaldolisation, elimination and the requirement of a large excess of the enone donor for their preparation. However, some success has been obtained for the preparation of aldol products derived from methylvinylketone and penterione using zinc-dinuclear catalysts or catalytic antibodies. Herein, we describe how simple first-generation hydroxyenones can be easily elongated by alkene exchange with structurally diverse olefinic partners in the presence of Ru-based metathesis catalysts allowing for the preparation of aldol products difficult to access by direct aldolisation. The data suggest that even though unprotected aldols are suitable for these cross-metatbesis reactions, silyl-protected beta-hydroxyenones generally afforded the desired elongated products in much higher chemical yields. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.