Allylation of Carbon Pronucleophiles with Alkynes in the Presence of Palladium/Acetic Acid Catalyst

We have developed an efficient and eco‐chemical process for the allylation of carbon pronucleophiles with alkynes. The reaction of alkynes with various active methynes and methylenes in the presence of Pd(PPh₃)₄/acetic acid gave the corresponding allylated products in high yields and high regioselectivities. In the present catalytic system, the key is the use of carboxylic acid which dramatically enhances the rate of the reactions. One of the important features of this process is that neither a leaving group is liberated nor is a stoichiometric amount of base needed to generate the nucleophiles.