Mechanochemical indium(0)-mediated Barbier allylation of carbonyl compounds: unexpected immiscible water additive effect for hydrophobic reagents

Indium-mediated Barbier allylation exhibited a positive effect with the addition of water under mechanochemical ball-milling conditions. A small amount of water as an additive selectively boosted the allylation of solid-state hydrophobic aldehydes despite their immiscibility. The broad scope and scalability of this method are also demonstrated herein.