Triethylborane as an efficient promoter for palladium-catalyzed allylation of active methylene compounds with allyl alcohols

Without prior activation of allyl alcohols, allylation of a variety of active methylene compounds with allyl alcohols proceeds smoothly at rt–50°C in the presence of catalytic amounts of Pd(OAc)2 (1–10 mol%), Et3B (30–240 mol%), a phosphine ligand (1–20 mol%), and a base (0 to 50–60 mol%).