Evolution of Efficient Strategies for Enone-Alkyne and Enal-Alkyne Reductive Couplings

Strategies for the reductive coupling of enones or enals with alkynes have been developed. The reducing agents employed include organozincs, organoboranes, organosilanes, and methanol. The latter of these strategies is simple, cost-effective, and tolerant of many functional groups. Isotopic labeling strategies have provided supporting evidence for the mechanistic proposals.