1,1,2-Tribromoethyl arenes: novel and highly efficient precursors for the synthesis of 1-bromoalkynes and α-bromoketones

A novel tribromination method to prepare versatile intermediate 1,1,2-tribromoethyl arenes, which can not only be transformed to synthetically valuable 1-bromoalkynes via elimination but also be hydrolyzed to a variety of α-bromoketones, was developed.