Treatment of α,β-unsaturatedketones and fluoroalkyl halides with Et2Zn in the presence of RhCl(PPh3)3 gave novel reductive fluoroalkylation products at the α-position of α,β-unsaturatedketones in moderate to good yields. The rhodium hydride complex derived from Et2Zn and Rh catalyst seems to have played an important role in this reaction.
Synthesis of compounds with quaternary carbons is one of the most attractive reactions in the synthetic chemistry. However, there are only a few reports on synthesis of the compounds with a fluoroalkyl group at a quaternary carbon center. Recently, we reported the synthesis of alpha-trifluoromethylated ketones by the reaction of alpha,beta-unsaturated ketones with CF(3)-I using a Rh catalyst. When