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A versatile methodology for the nucleophilic formylation and cyanation of conjugated enones is reported. The procedure is based on the use of formaldehyde dimethylhydrazone, which, acting as a neutral formyl anion equivalent, adds to preformed trialkylsilyl−enone complexes. Both 4-(silyloxy)-3-enal hydrazones 3 or deprotected 4-oxo aldehyde monohydrazones 4 can be obtained as products depending on quenching conditions. In full analogy, an asymmetric version of the reaction using chiral formaldehyde SAMP-hydrazone as a neutral synthon of the chiral formyl anion has been developed, giving rise to the corresponding adducts 5 and 6 in good yields and with excellent diastereoselectivities (de 85−≥98%). Ozonolysis or HCl-mediated hydrolysis of adducts 4 and 6 readily affords racemic and optically enriched 4-oxo aldehydes 7, respectively. Additionally, high-yielding MMPP-oxidative cleavage of 4-oxo hydrazones 4 and 6 has been performed to obtain 4-oxo nitriles 8 in racemic and optically enriched forms, respectively. In this way, interesting chiral bifunctional building blocks, some of them bearing newly created stereogenic quaternary centers, have been efficiently synthesized.

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