Palladium-Catalyzed Carbonylative Synthesis of α-Branched Enones from Aryl Iodides and Arylallenes.

In this communication, an interesting carbonylation protocol for the preparation of α-branched enones has been established. Starting from readily available aryl iodides and allenes, with formic acid as the CO source and reductant, moderate to good yields of the desired enones were isolated. Although it is a carbonylation methodology, the use of a CO source can avoid the manipulation of CO gas directly. Notably, this procedure also presents the first example on carbonylative synthesis of α-branched enones.