Metal-catalyzed enantioselective allylation, which involves the substitution of allylic metal intermediates with a diverse range of different nucleophiles or S(N)2'-type allylic substitution, leads to the formation of C-H, -C, -O, -N, -S, and other bonds with very high levels of asymmetric induction. The reaction may tolerate a broad range of functional groups and has been applied successfully to the synthesis of many natural products and new chiral compounds.

Metal-catalyzed enantioselective allylation in asymmetric synthesis.

Alkylation reactions represent an important organic transformation to form C–C bonds. In addition to conventional approaches with alkyl halides or sulfonates as alkylating agents, the use of unactivated olefins for alkylations has become attractive from both cost and sustainability viewpoints. This Review summarizes transition-metal-catalyzed alkylations of various carbon–hydrogen bonds (addition of C–H bonds across olefins) using regular olefins or 1,3-dienes up to May 2016. According to the mode of activation, the Review is divided into two sections: alkylation via C–H activation and alkylation via olefin activation.

Transition-Metal-Catalyzed C–H Alkylation Using Alkenes

The development of new methods for the direct functionalization of unactivated C–H bonds is ushering in a paradigm shift in the field of retrosynthetic analysis. In particular, the catalytic enantioselective functionalization of C–H bonds represents a highly atom- and step-economic approach toward the generation of structural complexity. However, as a result of their ubiquity and low reactivity, controlling both the chemo- and stereoselectivity of such processes constitutes a significant challenge. Herein we comprehensively review all asymmetric transition-metal-catalyzed methodologies that are believed to proceed via an inner-sphere-type mechanism, with an emphasis on the nature of stereochemistry generation. Our analysis serves to document the considerable and rapid progress within in the field, while also highlighting limitations of current methods.

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Catalytic Enantioselective Transformations Involving C-H Bond Cleavage by Transition-Metal Complexes.

An important challenge in asymmetric synthesis is the development of fully stereodivergent strategies to access the full complement of stereoisomers of products bearing multiple stereocenters. In the ideal case, where four products are possible, applying distinct catalysts to the same set of starting materials under identical conditions would in a single step afford any given stereoisomer. Herein, we describe the realization of this concept in a fully stereodivergent dual-catalytic synthesis of γ,δ-unsaturated aldehydes bearing vicinal quaternary/tertiary stereogenic centers. The reaction is enabled by chiral iridium and amine catalysts, which activate the allylic alcohol and aldehyde substrates, respectively. Each catalyst exerts high local stereocontrol irrespective of the other's inherent preference.

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/340/6136/1065.full.pdf

Enantio- and Diastereodivergent Dual Catalysis: α-Allylation of Branched Aldehydes

The Walden memorial at the Technical University in Riga is pictured in the frontispiece to mark the recent centennial of the Walden inversion. This is a rare public monument to key events from the first era of exploration in stereocontrolled synthesis, and may be the only such monument to use the language of organic chemistry expressed at the molecular level. The reaction of racemic substrates with chiral nucleophiles is one of many methods currently known to achieve kinetic resolution, a phenomenon that ranks as the oldest and most general approach for the synthesis of highly enantioenriched substances. The first nonenzymatic kinetic resolutions as well as the original forms of the Walden inversion were studied in the 1890s. All of these investigations were conducted within the first generation following the demonstration that carbon is tetrahedral, and provided abundant evidence that the principles and importance of enantiocontrolled syntheses were understood. However, a reliable, rapid technique to quantify results and guide the optimization process was still lacking. Many decades passed before this problem was solved by the advent of HPLC and GLPC assays on chiral supports, which stimulated explosive growth in the synthesis of nonracemic substances by kinetic resolution. The Walden monument is accessible to passers-by for hands-on inspection as well as for contemplation and learning. In a similar way, kinetic resolution is experimentally accessible and can be thought-provoking at several levels. We follow the story of kinetic resolution from the early discoveries through fascinating historical milestones and conceptual developments, and close with a focus on modern techniques that maximize efficiency.

Efficiency in nonenzymatic kinetic resolution.

Metal-catalyzed asymmetric processes offer one of the most straightforward ways to introduce stereogenic centers Hence, the development of novel chiral ligands that can effectively induce asymmetry in reactions is crucial in modern organic synthesis While many established chiral ligands bind to a metal through heteroatoms, structures that coordinate to metals through carbon atoms have received little attention so far Here, we highlight the increasing number of such chiral chelating olefin ligands as well as their application in a variety of metal-catalyzed transformations

Chiral olefins as steering ligands in asymmetric catalysis.

We report an Ir(I)-catalyzed kinetic resolution of secondary allylic carbonates allowing for their isolation in up to 98% ee. Importantly, the study documents the synthesis and use of a new class of chiral [2.2.2]-bicyclooctadiene ligands for iridium.

Readily available [2.2.2]-bicyclooctadienes as new chiral ligands for Ir(I): catalytic, kinetic resolution of allyl carbonates.

Iridium-catalyzed synthesis of primary allylic amines from allylic alcohols: sulfamic acid as ammonia equivalent.

Chiral [2.2.2] Dienes as Ligands for Rh(I) in Conjugate Additions of Boronic Acids to a Wide Range of Acceptors

A general route to enantioenriched 3,3-diarylpropanals is presented. These useful building blocks are prepared via an asymmetric rhodium-catalyzed conjugate addition of arylboronic acids to cinnamaldehyde derivatives in the presence of chiral dienes. The addition of both electron-poor as well as electron-rich boronic acids proceeds smoothly with various enals in 63−90% yield with high enantioselectivities (89−93% ee).

Christian Defieber

Papers

Chiral olefins as steering ligands in asymmetric catalysis.

Readily available [2.2.2]-bicyclooctadienes as new chiral ligands for Ir(I): catalytic, kinetic resolution of allyl carbonates.

Iridium-catalyzed synthesis of primary allylic amines from allylic alcohols: sulfamic acid as ammonia equivalent.

Chiral [2.2.2] Dienes as Ligands for Rh(I) in Conjugate Additions of Boronic Acids to a Wide Range of Acceptors

Asymmetric synthesis of 3,3-diarylpropanals with chiral diene-rhodium catalysts.