Direct coupling of sp³ carbon of alkanes with α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds using a copper/hydroperoxide system

A new methodology for the monovalent copper-initiated direct coupling of alkanes and hydroperoxides with unsaturated carbonyl compounds is developed. In this work, α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds underwent alkylation and peroxidation to give synthetically useful α-peroxy ketones with wide functional group tolerance. The resulting α-peroxy ketones could be easily transformed into very useful α-hydroxy ketones.