A one-pot diastereoselective synthesis of 1,3-diols and 1,3,5-triols via cascade reactions of arylalkynyl Grignard reagents with enol esters

Abstract

An efficient cascade reaction has been developed to synthesize a series of 1,3-diols and 1,3,5-triols via reactions of arylalkynyl Grignard reagents with enol esters. The stereoselectivity of reactions and the molecular configurations of the products were confirmed by nuclear magnetic resonance, X-ray diffraction, and high-performance liquid chromatography analysis. A possible reaction mechanism was analyzed with the results indicating that it proceeded through a 1,2-addition/rearrangement and reverse O-acylation to produce the 1,3-diol and via C-acylation to form the 1,3,5-triol.