A General Protocol for the Aqueous Morita‐Baylis‐Hillman Reaction between Cyclic Enones and 1,2‐Dicarbonyl Compounds

Abstract In this report, we present an extensive methodological study of the aqueous Morita–Baylis–Hillman (MBH) reaction of a range of cycloenones with di‐ and tricarbonyl compounds, such as glyoxal derivatives, aliphatic and aromatic α‐keto esters, 1,2‐diketones, diethyl ketomalonate, ninhydrin, acenaphthenequinone, and phenanthrene‐9,10‐dione, through mediation of a bicyclic imidazolyl alcohol (BIA) as catalyst in aqueous medium. The desired MBH adducts were obtained in up to 98 % yield. The synthetic applicability of the MBH adducts was demonstrated by the preparation of an acenaphtho[1,2‐ b ]indole derivative.