Practical Synthesis of α,α-Dibromo Esters from Aldehydes.

Herein, we report an efficient and practical method for synthesizing α,α-dibromo esters, which are the precursors of ynolates, through the dibromination of aldehydes followed by oxidative esterification using iodine. Our method was successfully employed in a large-scale synthesis to yield more than 30 g of dibromo esters. These two steps can be performed in a one-pot manner, which makes the method adaptable even for aldehydes having low boiling points.