In situ formed acetals facilitated direct Michael addition of unactivated ketones

A facile Michael addition of unactivated ketones under Brønsted acid conditions for the synthesis of 1,5-diketones.

Oxygen as single oxidant for two steps: base-free one-pot Pd(ii)-catalyzed alcohol oxidation & arylation to halogen-intact β-aryl α,β-enones

Using oxygen as the sole oxidant for two steps, we developed a new method to synthesize β-aryl α,β-enones by fine-tuning the Pd(ii)-catalyzed oxidation of allyl alcohol to subsequent arylation with arylboronic acids, arylboronic ester and aryltrifluoroborate salt.