One-pot vinylogous aldol addition of beta,gamma-unsaturated esters under mild conditions

We described a one-pot vinylogous aldol addition of methyl 3-butenoate to aromatic aldehydes in the presence of silver salts and the TMSCl-TBAF mixture. The reaction can be done simply by sequentially mixing reagents in situ, and it does not require any catalyst or dienolate ether preparations prior to the reaction.