Novel Synergistic Catalysis by Ethylcarbodiimide Hydrochloride Salt and CuI Towards Morita‐Baylis‐Hillman Reaction

Abstract

AbstractMorita Baylis‐Hillman (MBH) reaction of various aldehydes, bearing electron‐releasing as well as electron‐withdrawing groups with acrylonitrile and methyl acrylate as electron‐deficient alkene is reported herein. The cornerstone of the reaction is the utilization of EDC.HCl (a salt) as a novel catalyst, salt gets converted into neutral tertiary amine in the presence of CuI for the synthesis of MBH adduct. Excellent product yield (up to 99 %), ambient reaction conditions, shorter reaction time, and no side product formation are the salient features of the envisaged synthetic protocol.