Arenecarboxylate ester carbon monoxide

Some of the latest developments in terms of substrates for the Heck reactions are nitrophenyl benzoates [55], acyl benzoates (mixed anhydrides) [236], and substituted benzoic acids [53]. For the last two, the leaving groups are carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, respectively. A variety of alkenes have been coupled with these substrates. While esters and anhydrides presumably react in a catalytic cycle like that of the classical Heck reaction [237], arenecarboxylic acids, when treated with an equimolar amount of a silver salt as reoxidant, appear to undergo a nonclassical Heck reaction as demonstrated by the coupling with 2-cyclohexenone to give a 3-arylcyclohexenone. 

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