Département de chimie moléculaire

By combining an organocatalyzed Michael addition of 1,3-diketones to hydroxy-nitroolefins with a subsequent, innovative iron(0)-catalyzed fragmentation, key enantioenriched ketones possessing additional nitro and protected alcohol functions could efficiently be prepared under excellent enantiocontrol (typically 95% ee). The reaction was made possible by the discovery that photochemical activation of iron pentacarbonyl [Fe(CO)5], a cheap widely available complex, efficiently catalyzed a Claisen-type fragmentation under mild conditions, avoiding decomposition of the intermediates and products.