4-Picoline derivatives are converted to the corresponding aryl picolyl sulfones upon treatment with aryl sulfonyl chlorides and Et 3 N in the presence of catalytic DMAP. The reaction proceeds smoothly for a variety of alkyl and aryl picolines using a range of aryl sulfonyl chlorides. The reaction is believed to involve N-sulfonyl 4alkylidene dihydropyridine intermediates and results in formal sulfonylation of unactivated picolyl C−H bonds.

4-Alkylpyridines are converted to conjugated 1,1-disubstituted alkenyl pyridines (vinyl pyridines) upon treatment with excess ethyl chloroformate, triethylamine, and Eschenmoser’s salt. The reaction proceeds under mild conditions via alkylidene dihydropyridine intermediates

Aldehyde-derived imidazolidines participate as hydride donors in intramolecular reductive Heck-type reactions. N , N ′-Diphenylimidazolidines prepared from ortho -alkynyl benzaldehydes underwent regio- and stereoselective palladium-catalyzed hydroarylation followed by formal 1,5-hydride transfer and reductive elimination to afford substituted alkenes and imidazolium moieties, the latter conveniently converted in situ to ring-opened benzanilides to simplify product isolation. Internal alkynes were converted to trisubstituted alkenes via a syn hydroarylation process, while a terminal alkyne was converted to a cis alkene via a formal trans hydroarylation reaction. Benzanilide products could be converted to carboxylic acid derivatives under basic conditions, resulting in the net conversion of alkynyl aldehydes to alkenyl carboxylic acids. A styrene derivative with an attached N , N ′-dimethylbenzimidazoline hydride donor was also found to undergo an analogous hydroarylation/benzimidazoline oxidation to give a diarylethane product.