Silver-Catalyzed Double-Decarboxylative Cross-Coupling of α-Keto Acids with Cinnamic Acids in Water: A Strategy for the Preparation of Chalcones

A silver-catalyzed double-decarboxylative protocol has been proposed for the construction of chalcone derivatives via cascade coupling of substituted α-keto acids with cinnamic acids under the mild aqueous conditions. The developed method for constructing C-C bonds via double-decarboxylative reactions is efficient, practical, and environmentally benign by using the readily available starting materials. It should provide a promising synthesis candidate for the formation of diverse and useful chalcone derivatives in the fields of synthetic and pharmaceutical chemistry.