Productive crossed aldol reactions
Channel: Frostburg State University Chemistry Department
Date: 02/05/2018

Crossed aldol reactions can be productive if you can guarantee that one compound only acts as a nucleophile and the other only acts as an electrophile. This can be achieved through the use of a strong base while controlling order of addition. Also, it can be achieved by using carbonyl compounds predisposed to nucleophilicity or electrophilicity, but not both.