Catalyst-controlled selective borocarbonylation of benzylidenecyclopropanes: regiodivergent synthesis of γ-vinylboryl ketones and β-cyclopropylboryl ketones

Regioselective catalytic multi-functionalization reactions enable the rapid synthesis of complexed products from the same precursors. In this communication, we present a method for the regiodivergent borocarbonylation of benzylidenecyclopropanes with aryl iodides. Various γ-vinylboryl ketones and β-cyclopropylboryl ketones were produced in moderate to good yields with excellent regioselectivity from the same substrates. The choice of the catalyst is key for the regioselectivity control: γ-vinylboryl ketones were produced selectively with IPrCuCl and Pd(dppp)Cl(2) as the catalytic system, while the corresponding β-cyclopropylboryl ketones were obtained in high regioselectivity with Cu(dppp)Cl, [Pd(η(3)-cinnamyl)Cl](2) and xantphos as the catalytic system. Moreover, γ-vinylboryl ketones and β-cyclopropylboryl ketones were successfully transformed into several other value-added products.