Cover Picture: From Allylic Alcohols to Aldols through a New Nickel-Mediated Tandem Reaction: Synthetic and Mechanistic Studies (Chem. Eur. J. 12/2006)

Atom economical reactions that involve mild and neutral reaction conditions are currently an important challenge in synthesis. In their Full Paper on page 3261 ff., R. Grée et al. describe a new tandem isomerization–aldolization process. The cover highlights 1) the novelty of using allylic alcohols as partners for the preparation of aldols, 2) the key role of free enols as intermediates, and 3) (in the middle) the postulated transition state of this reaction. The picture behind the scheme shows the high tide at St. Malo, a famous port and city near Rennes where this research has been performed.