Molecular Iodine‐Catalyzed 1,6‐Conjugated Addition of Enaminones on para‐Quinone Methides

Abstract A highly efficient and metal‐free protocol has been developed for the synthesis of a series of enaminone derivatives functionalized with unsymmetrical diarylmethyl units via 1,6‐conjugate addition of enaminones viz. arylaminocyclohexenones and N ‐alkyl arylaminomaleimides, using molecular iodine (I₂) under mild conditions. This reaction proceeds at ambient temperature, yielding structurally diverse products with excellent functional group tolerance. The optimized conditions demonstrated remarkable substrate scope, including electron‐donating and electron‐withdrawing substituents on both para ‐quinone methides ( p ‐QMs) and enaminones. The use of I₂ as a catalyst offers an environmentally benign and cost‐effective alternative to transition metals, ensuring operational simplicity. The scalability of the method was successfully demonstrated through gram‐scale synthesis.