Enantioenriched benzyl esters of propiolic acids undergo highly stereospecific decarboxylative coupling to provide 1,1-diarylethynyl methanes. This sp–sp3 coupling does not require strongly basic conditions or preformed organometallics and produces CO2 as the sole byproduct. Ultimately, this method results in the successful transfer of stereochemical information from secondary benzyl alcohols to generate enantioenriched tertiary diarylmethanes.
