Soft enolization provides an exceptionally mild and operationally simple approach to direct carbon-carbon bond formation and has been used in the development of methods for the synthesis of 1,3-diketones and β-keto carboxylic acid derivatives. Direct Carbon–Carbon Bond Formation via Soft Enolization O O O O MgBr2!OEt2 i-Pr2NEt 2 R LG + Y R Y CH2Cl2 R R1