α,β-Dehydrogenation of esters with free O H and N H functionalities via allyl-palladium catalysis

A direct and selective method for the α,β-dehydrogenation of esters using palladium catalysis in the presence of free OH and NH functionalities is reported herein. Allyl-palladium catalysis allows for preservation of readily oxidizable functionalities such as amines and alcohols. Furthermore, an economical protocol using LDA was developed for the dehydrogenation of β-amino esters.