Brønsted Acid Mediated Heterogeneous Addition Reaction of 1,3‐Dicarbonyl Compounds to Alkenes and Alcohols

The unique acidity of a proton-exchanged montmorillonite catalyst (H-mont) was exploited in the nucleophilic addition of 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds to simple alkenes (see scheme). The benzylation and allylation of 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds with alcohols and nucleophilic addition of carboxylic acids to alkenes also proceeded smoothly with the H-mont catalyst, which could be recovered easily and recycled at least seven times without loss of activity.