l-proline and l-histidine co-catalyzed Baylis–Hillman reaction

Baylis–Hillman reaction between an aldehyde and an activated alkene, such as alkyl vinyl ketones, acrylates, acrylonitrile, and vinylsulfones, giving the β-hydroxy-α-methylene carbonyl compounds, is a versatile and atom-economical carbon–carbon bond-forming reaction. This reaction usually is catalyzed by strong Lewis bases such as tertiary amines and suffers from slow reaction rate. In this paper the Baylis–Hillman reaction between arylaldehydes and methyl vinyl ketone was successfully realized by a catalytic amount of l-proline and l-histidine system to give the corresponding normal Baylis–Hillman adducts in moderate to high yields for the first time. The effects of solvent and reagent electro property on the yields of this reaction were also investigated. Proline and histidine are naturally widely present amino acids in food system; furthermore, aldehydes and activated alkenes can also be easily produced in food processing, so proline and histidine co-catalyzed Baylis–Hillman reaction may find application in explaining some phenomena in food processing.