2021, Ge, Yao, Ye, Fei, Yang, Ji, Spannenberg, Anke, Jiao, Haijun, Jackstell, Ralf, Beller, Matthias

A direct and selective synthesis of α,β-unsaturated piperidones by a new palladium-catalyzed cascade carbonylation is described. In the presented protocol, easily available propargylic alcohols react with aliphatic amines to provide a broad variety of interesting heterocycles. Key to the success of this transformation is a remarkable catalytic cleavage of the present carbon–carbon triple bond by using a specific catalyst with 2-diphenylphosphinopyridine as ligand and appropriate reaction conditions. Mechanistic studies and control experiments revealed branched unsaturated acid 11 as crucial intermediate. © 2021 The Authors. Angewandte Chemie International Edition published by Wiley-VCH GmbH