Rhodium fluoroapatite catalyzed conjugate addition of arylboronic acids to α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds

Abstract

Rhodium fluoroapatite (RhFAP) is an efficient catalyst for conjugate addition of organoboron reagents to α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds. A variety of arylboronic acids and α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds were converted to the corresponding conjugate-addition products, demonstrating the versatility of the reaction. The reaction is highly selective. RhFAP was recovered quantitatively by simple filtration, and reused for four cycles. © 2008 Verlag Helvetica Chimica Acta AG.