Efficient syntheses of secondary and tertiary 2-aryl- and 2-heteroaryl-allyl alcohols

Reactions of alpha-aryl-, alpha-heteroaryl-, and alpha-heteroatom-substitut ed masked alkenyllithiums with aldehydes and ketones provide a general meth od for the synthesis of allylic alcohols substituted with an aryl or hetero aryl in the beta position and aryl, heteroaryl or alkyl substituents in the a position via a [1,4]-C-->O silicon rearrangement. In the case of reactio ns with enolizable aldehydes and ketones, anhydrous CeCl3 was used as an ad ditive. High diastereoselectivities are observed for allyl alcohols produce d from a-substituted aldehydes.