β-Oxidation of α,β-Unsaturated Carbonyl Compounds

Abstract

The replacement of a b-hydrogen on an a,b-unsaturated carbonyl system with a non-hydrogen, non-carbon atom amounts to either a net two electron oxidation or an isohypsic substitution at the b-carbon. The resulting compounds are the functional equivalents of b-dicarbonyl derivatives. Although many methods have been developed to effect this transformation, they lack generality and the process remains an underutilized one in organic synthesis.