We herein describe a versatile palladium-catalyzed synthesis of β,β-diaryl α,β-unsaturated
ketones. A broad range of aryl halides react with β-arylbutanones to afford biologically
useful, symmetrical and unsymmetrical ketones. The use of 4,5-diazafluoren-9-one and
oxygen makes this one-pot reaction more applicable. A plausible mechanism involving
palladium-catalyzed oxidative Heck-type cross-coupling is also proposed.
Key words
ketones - palladium - 4,5-diazafluoren-9-one - oxidation - cross-coupling