Organocatalytic Decarboxylative Doebner-Knoevenagel Reactions between Arylaldehydes and Monoethyl Malonate Mediated by a Bifunctional Polymeric Catalyst

A bifunctional polystyrene bearing both DMAP and piperidine groups has been prepared and used as an organocatalyst for decarboxylative Doebner-Knoevenagel reactions of arylaldehydes and monoethyl malonate. Isolated yields of the resulting cinnamates were very high, and in all cases only the E-isomer was detected. When a polystyrene catalyst functionalized with only DMAP or piperidine groups was used in these reactions, catalysis was much less efficient. Furthermore, catalysis using a combination of the monofunctional polymers was also less efficient than with the bifunctional polystyrene. Thus, it appears that there is a synergistic effect obtained by co-locating the two different catalytic amine groups on the same polymer backbone. © Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York.