Green and effective synthesis of multisubstituted α-pyrones via K2CO3 catalyzed formal insertion of ketenimines into C(CO)–C bonds of 1,3-diketones

A green synthetic approach to prepare racemic or enantioenriched multisubstituted α-pyrones through the K 2 CO 3 -catalyzed formal C(CO)–C bond insertion reaction of ketenimines with 1,3-diketones was developed.