Microwave-Assisted One-Step Synthesis of Acetophenones via Palladium-Catalyzed Regioselective Arylation of Vinyloxytrimethylsilane

The regiochemistry of the palladium-mediated arylation (Heck arylation) of enol ethers is sensitive to the structure of the enol ether, the arylating agent and the catalytic system. In this study, an effective and practical method was successfully developed for the synthesis of acetophenones with high regioselectivity under palladium-catalyzed conditions. A variety of acetophenones was readily prepared from aryl iodides in good to excellent yields under microwave irradiation in a single step. The key feature of our new protocol is the use of vinyloxytrimethylsilane as a highly regioselective acylation reagent.