Olefination of Electron-Deficient Alkenes with Allyl Acetate: Stereo- and Regioselective Access to (2Z,4E)-Dienamides.

A Ru-catalyzed direct olefination of electron-deficient alkenes with allyl acetate via C-H bond activation is disclosed. By using N,N-disubstituted aminocarbonyl as the directing group, this external oxidant-free protocol resulted in high reaction efficiency and good stereo- and regioselectivities, which opens a novel synthetic passway for access to (Z,E)-butadiene skeletons.