Advances in the TBAF-induced aldol-type addition of α-trialkylsilyl-α-diazoacetones: TIPS versus TES

α-Triisopropylsilyl-α-diazoacetone (TIPS-diazoacetone) underwent high-yielding “diazo-side” Mukaiyama aldol-type addition with a range of aryl and alkyl aldehydes when subjected to stoichiometric amount of tetrabutylammonium fluoride at −16 °C, in Et2O. Robustness of the TIPS group makes TIPS-diazoacetone a stable surrogate for α-triethylsilyl-α-diazoacetone, on which generation of the corresponding carbanion can still be efficiently achieved under nucleophilic, weakly basic and practical conditions. These results highlight the synthetic potential that can be expected from TIPS-diazoacetone, promising building block for the convergent elaboration of highly functionalised versatile diazocarbonyl compounds.