Initial exploration focused on the use of Lewis acids to shift the absorption spectra of 2 closer to the visible region. This has been demonstrated previously for simpler α,ßunsaturated ketones by Bach and coworkers 14 using oxazaborolidine-based catalysts for enantioselective reactions and boron trichloride in the racemic version, which achieved bathochromic shifts of nearly 70 nm. To test if this was possible for 2, UV-vis absorption spectra were obtained in the presence and absence of BCl3 (Figure ).