Oxidative Addition of Chloro- and Dichloroacetic Acid to Alkenes to Give a-Chloro- and a,a-Dichlorobutyrolactones with Manganese(III) Acetate

Oxidative addition of chloroacetic acid and dichloroacetic acid to alkenes with Mn(OAc)₃ to give α-chloro- and α,α-dichlorobutyrolactones proceeds in moderate to good yield in MeCN containing one equivalent of the sodium salt of the carboxylic acid.