Copper‐Catalyzed Enantioselective Reductive Aldol Reaction of α,β‐Unsaturated Carboxylic Acids to Alkyl Aryl Ketones: Silanes as Activator and Transient Protecting Group
The first reductivealdolreaction of α,β-unsaturated carboxylic acids was developed in the presence of copper/bisphosphine catalysts. The reaction demonstrated the usability of in situ protection of α,β-unsaturated carboxylic acids by a hydrosilane for the reductive C−C bond formation. The Si−O bond in the aldol products is readily cleaved by a standard workup, showing the silane worked as not only
A novel family of PNP ligands (W-Phos) was designed and applied in the copper-catalyzed asymmetric addition of linear Grignard reagents to ketones, allowing ready access to versatile chiral tertiary alcohols in high yields and with excellent enantioselectivities.