Chemoselective Reduction: Xanthates as Traceless Precursors of Polyfunctionalized α,α-Dichloroketones.

The use of BEt3·H2O has allowed the chemoselective reductive dexanthylation in the presence of the very fragile α,α-dichloroketone motif. This has solved a major hurdle in our approach to this important, but hitherto grossly understudied, family of compounds and opened access to a number of very useful synthetic transformations.