A Widely Applicable and Versatile Method for the Ring-Opening 1,3-Carbocarbonation of Donor-Acceptor Cyclopropanes

A 1,3-carbocarbonation of 2-substituted cyclopropane 1,1-dicarboxylates introduces various saturated or unsaturated carbon residues at the 1- and 3- position of the former three-membered ring. Under copper catalysis, ring-opening attack with a Grignard reagent proceeded smoothly; the intermediate was converted to the final product by reaction with appropriate carbon-based electrophiles under basic conditions. As nucleophiles, Grignard reagents derived from sp(3)-, sp(2)-, and sp-hybridized carbon residues were successfully employed, whereas various aliphatic bromides and EBX derivatives (for sp moieties) served as electrophiles.