Cetyltrimethylammonium hydroxide (CTAOH) as a general, ecofriendly catalyst for the formation of carbon-carbon bond through nitroalkanes

Nitroalkanes have been found to give good yields in Michael and nitroaldol (Henry) reactions by the use of a catalytic amount (10 mol%) of CTAOH. at room temperature and under solvent free conditions and in very short reaction times. The methods do not need a large excess of the nitroalkanes and show good chemoselectivity toward further functionalities. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.