[reaction: see text] Allylzirconium reagents are effective for radicalallylation of alpha-halo carbonyl compounds. The key steps would be homolytic cleavage of the zirconium-carbon bond and halogen abstraction by the resulting Cp(2)ZrCl(III). Zirconocene-olefin complex can be also utilized for the allylation of alpha-halo compounds.
An allylgallium reagent is found to be effective for radical allylation of α-iodo or α-bromo carbonyl compounds. Treatment of benzyl bromoacetate with allylgallium, prepared from allylmagnesium chloride and gallium trichloride, in the presence of triethylborane in THF provided benzyl 4-pentenoate in good yield. The addition of water as a cosolvent improved the yields of allylated products. It was revealed