Irradiation (
> 360 nm) of equimolar amounts o
falkoxychromium(0) carbene complexes
1 and stabilized sulfur ylides
2 renders2-acylvinyl ethers
3 in good to excellent yieldsas
E/Z mixtures upon visible (
sunlight preferred) oxidation toeliminate the metallic moiety.Formation of 2-acylvinyl ethers
3 is compatible withdifferent groups attached to the carbeneoxygen, including chiral fragments and unsaturated substituents.Variation of the substituent at the carbene carbon including alkyl, cycloalkyl, aromatic,and heteroaromaticsubstituents is also viable. The overall process is equivalent tothe totally site-selectiveenolization of a
-keto ester or
-diketone. 2-Acylvinylethers
3 are obtained with yieldsand selectivities ranking among the best of the synthetic approaches tothese compoundsreported previously. 2-Acylvinyl ethers
3 can beobtained also in the dark at roomtemperature, but reaction times are considerably longer.