Esters tandem vicinal dialkylations

Esters are far less reactive as electrophiles when compared to aldehydes and ketones. Successful tandem vicinal dialkylations are possible using alkyl formates,67 but most esters lack the needed reactivity. More reactive thioesters can serve as electrophiles in these sequences.208 Presence of a potentially electrophilic ester group as a substituent in the conjugate enolate permits very efficient Dieckmann cycliza-tion to take place as the second step of a MIRC sequence (e.g. equations 5118 and 52).24 Ortho esters are far more reactive, giving p-keto esters as adducts when used in sequences that employ enones as substrates.230... 

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