An efficient and mild iron-mediated synthesis of alkenyl halides via direct C–C bond formation of benzyl alcohols and aryl alkynes

This work demonstrated an efficient and mild method for preparing various substituted alkenyl halides via direct C–C bond formation of benzyl alcohols and aryl alkynes in CH2Cl2 at 50 °C by using 50 mol % of FeCl3·6H2O or FeBr3. Compared with the systems using excessive boron trihalides and stoichiometric n-BuLi to prepare substituted alkenyl halides, the present procedure would provide an excellent alternative due to the environmentally benign system and atom efficiency.