Improved Zinc-Catalyzed Simmons-Smith Reaction: Access to Various 1,2,3-Trisubstituted Cyclopropanes

The Simmons-Smith reaction of zinc carbenoids with alkenes is a powerful method to access cyclopropanes containing various substitution patterns. This work exploits the high reactivity of aryldiazomethanes toward zinc halides to generate aryl-substituted carbenoids catalytically. These carbenoids are able to cyclopropanate various alkenes diastereoselectively, including unfunctionalized substrates such as styrenes. The zinc catalyst can be modified to tolerate the use of free allylic alcohols.