Rhodium-Catalyzed Remote Isomerization of Alkenyl Alcohols to Ketones.

We develop herein an efficient rhodium-catalyzed remote isomerization of aromatic and aliphatic alkenyl alcohols into ketones. This catalytic process, with a commercially available catalyst and ligand ([RhCl(cod)]2 and Xantphos), features high efficiency, low catalyst loading, good functional group tolerance, a broad substrate scope, and no (sub)stoichiometric additive. Preliminary mechanistic studies suggest that this transformation involves an iterative dissociative β-hydride elimination-migration insertion process.