Metal‐Free Selective Synthesis of α,β‐Unsaturated Aldehydes from Alkenes and Formaldehyde Catalyzed by Dimethylamine

Abstract

Abstractα,β‐Unsaturated aldehydes are important building blocks for the synthesis of a wide range of chemicals, including polymers. The synthesis of these molecules from cheap feedstocks such as alkenes remains a scientific challenge, mainly due to the low reactivity of alkenes. Here we report a selective and metal‐free access to α,β‐unsaturated aldehydes from alkenes with formaldehyde. This reaction is catalyzed by dimethylamine and affords α,β‐unsaturated aldehydes in yields of up to 80 %. By combining Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations and experiments, we elucidate the reaction mechanism which is based on a cascade of hydride transfer, hydrolysis and aldolization reactions. The reaction can be performed under very mild conditions (30–50 °C), in a theoretically 100 % carbon‐economical fashion, with water as the only by‐product. The reaction was successfully applied to non‐activated linear 1‐alkenes, thus opening an access to industrially relevant α,β‐unsaturated aldehydes from cheap and widely abundant chemicals at large scale.