Vinyl Weinreb amides: a versatile alternative to vinyl ketone substrates for the Heck arylation

This paper describes the use of unsaturated Weinreb amides as excellent substrates for the Heck reaction. Subsequent derivatization of the products with organometallic reagents allowed access to a variety of substituted vinyl ketones that could not have been prepared directly via Heck reaction on unsaturated ketone precursors.