Silver-Catalyzed Olefination of Acetals and Ketals with Diazoesters to β-Alkoxyacrylates.

The first silver-catalyzed reaction of acetals or ketals with diazoesters leading to trisubstituted or tetrasubstituted β-alkoxyacrylates is now reported. A broad range of acetals and ketals bearing different substituents is compatible with this protocol and thus provides an attractive approach for the synthesis of complex β-alkoxyacrylates. The power of this method was further demonstrated by the successful synthesis of picoxystrobin, which is one of the most popular agricultural fungicides commercialized by Dupont.