Decarboxylative Functionalization of ,-Unsaturated Carboxylic Acids: New Perspective for the Synthesis of Functionalized Allylic Compounds

Due to the versatile reactivity of allyl moieties for further transformations and their omnipresence in biologically and pharmaceutically active molecules, significant efforts have been devoted to the efficient introduction of such groups into organic compounds. Although a large variety of allylating reagents have been successfully developed, development of new, efficient and environmentally benign allylating reagents remains in high demand. Recently, easily accessible beta,gamma-unsaturated carboxylic acids have been explored as promising allylating agents in decarboxylative allylation reactions. This type of transformation provides facile access to various functionalized allyl compounds including those that are difficult to prepare using the classic allylating reagents with high efficiency and regiocontrol, and can be rendered enantioselective by choosing a suitable catalyst precursor and chiral ligand. Moreover, utilizing such allylating reagents allows for the discovery of novel transformations, especially under visible light photocatalysis.