Reexamination of the traditional Baylis-Hillman reaction

In the Baylis-Hillman reaction of arylaldehydes with methyl vinyl ketone (MVK), we found that, besides the normal Baylis-Ellman adduct 1, the diadduct 2 can also be formed at the same time and the yield of 2 can reach to 55% if increasing the amount of methyl vinyl ketone. But for ethyl vinyl ketone (EVK), methyl acrylate or acrylonitrile, only the normal Baylis-Hillman adduct 4, 7 or 8 was obtained, respectively. The substituent's effects and Lewis base effects were also examined and a plausible reaction mechanism was proposed for the formation of 2. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.