Reactions of diazoalkanes with unsaturated compounds 15. Catalytic reactions of unsaturated carbonyl compounds and their derivatives with diazomethane

The present study concerned with the influence of the nature of the acetal fragment in unsaturated compounds on the reactivity of the C=C bond in cyclopropanation reactions with diazomethane catalyzed by copper and palladium compounds. The acetal substituents at the alpha- or gamma-position with respect to the C=C bond were found to exert an activating effect on the yields of cyclopropanation products compared to the starting unsaturated carbonyl compounds, which give 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition adducts with CH2N2 as by-products. Cyclopropanation of the double bonds appeared to be most efficiently catalyzed by Pd(acac)(2).