Rh-Catalyzed Oxidation and Trifluoroethoxylation of N-aryl-pyrrolidin-2-ones: a Domino Approach for the Synthesis of N-aryl-5-(2,2,2-trifluoroethoxy)-1,5-dihydro-2H-pyrrol-2-ones

A novel rhodium-catalyzed cascade oxidation dehydrogenation/trifluoroethoxylation domino one-pot reaction process for the regioselective synthesis of α,β-unsaturated-γ-trifluoroethoxy-γ-butyrolactams has been successfully developed.