1,4-Addition of alkyl to unsaturated carbonyl compound

摘要

Process for 1,4-addition of a saturated alkyl group to an alpha , beta -unsaturated carbonyl compound (III) comprises reacting (III) with a catalytic or molar amount of a Lewis acid (I) of formula R'(3-a)AlXa (Ia), R'3SiX (Ib) or TiX(4-c)Yc (Ic), and finally or simultaneously, reaction with an aluminium compound (II) of formula R3Al (IIa) or R2AlZ (IIb). R, R' = saturated 1-10C alkyl; X = halo or saturated 1-10C alkoxy; and when X in (Ic) =halo, then Y = saturated 1-10C alkoxy; a = 1-3; c = 0-4; Z = halo. Also claimed is an alkylation agent comprising (II) and a catalytic or molar amount of (I), providing that when (I) is (Ia), then (II) is different from (I).