Aluminium trichloride-promoted tandem hydroarylation–ionic hydrogenation of 3-arylpropynoic acid derivatives and 4-phenylbut-3-yn-2-one

Reactions of 3-arylpropynoic acid derivatives and conjugated acetylene ketones with arenes and cyclohexane under the action of AlCl₃ at room temperature for 15 h afford the corresponding products of one-pot tandem hydroarylation–ionic hydrogenation of the acetylene bond of the starting compounds in 42–98% yields. This reaction is accompanied by aryl group exchange process under acidic conditions.