Miyamura Sawako, Satoh Tetsuya, Miura Masahiro
Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.
J Org Chem. 2007 Mar 16;72(6):2255-7. doi: 10.1021/jo062628j. Epub 2007 Feb 20.
Dialkyl oxalates undergo selective diarylation on one of their carbonyl carbons upon treatment with arylboron reagents in the presence of a rhodium catalyst to give the corresponding alpha-hydroxydiarylacetates. Under similar conditions, the arylation of benzoylformate and benzil also proceeds efficiently.