Catalytic carbon-carbon bond activation of sec-alcohols by a rhodium(I) complex

Various unstrained sec-alcohols, including cycloalkanols, reacted with alkenes under a catalytic system of Rh(I) complex, 2-amino-3-picoline, and K2CO3 to give the alkyl-group-exchanged ketones through transfer hydrogenation and consecutive carbon-carbon bond activation The presence of base is essential to enhance the rate of the oxidation step, and alkene acts as a hydrogen acceptor and a substrate of the carbon-carbon coupling reaction.