Barbier coupling in water: SnCl2-mediated and Co(acac)2-catalyzed allylation of carbonyls

Co(acac)2·2H2O efficiently catalyzes SnCl2-mediated Barbier coupling in water between carbonyls, including aromatic, aliphatic and α,β-unsaturated aldehydes, ketones, sugars and allyl bromide to afford the corresponding homoallylic alcohols in high yields. The catalyst was reused for several cycles with consistent activity.