Rhodium/chiral diene complex-catalyzed asymmetric addition of arylboronic acids to cyclic ketimines having an ester group proceeded to give the corresponding α-amino acid derivatives in high yields with high enantioselectivity. The cyclic amino acid derivative was transformed into a linear α,α-diaryl-substituted α-N-methylamino acid ester.

Substituted azafluorenones were synthesized from different dihalogeno diaryl ketones under palladium catalysis by combining either Suzuki or Heck coupling with direct cyclizing arylation. Conditions were identified to allow both auto-tandem processes to proceed successfully from 3-(bromobenzoyl)- or 3-benzoyl-4-bromo-2-chloropyridines, as well as 4-benzoyl-2,3- and 4-benzoyl-2,5-dichloropyridines.

Rh(I)-catalysed [2 + 2 + 2] cycloaddition allows the synthesis of aryl ethers and diaryl methanes containing a high degree of steric hindrance from relatively simple diyne and alkyne precursors. The diarylmethanes made in this way show no evidence in their NMR spectra, however, of rotational restriction.

The dynamic kinetic resolution of 4,5-diaryl cyclic sulfamidate imines was achieved via asymmetric transfer hydrogenation using a HCO(2)H/Et(3)N mixture as the hydrogen source and chiral Rh catalysts (R,R)- or (S,S)-RhCl(TsDPEN)Cp* affording the corresponding cyclic sulfamidates in good yields with up to >20 : 1 dr and up to >99% ee.

A copper-catalyzed radical 1,2-aryl migration in α,α-diaryl allylic alcohols is developed, leading to β-silyl carbonyl compounds in moderate to good yields. The migration of aryls with lower aromaticity is favored. This procedure features the employment of silanes as commercially available materials.

Transition metal free Brønsted acid mediated synthesis of biologically important pyrido[1,2-a]indole scaffolds through aza-Nazarov type cyclization of readily available diaryl(2-pyridyl)methanol using formic acid has been developed. This methodology has been successfully extended to synthesize atropisomers.

We report herein an original and rapid synthesis of 2,3-diaryl N-tosylaziridines by TDAE strategy starting from ortho- or para-nitro(dichloromethyl)benzene derivatives and N-tosylimines. A mixture of cis/trans isomers was isolated from 1-(dichloromethyl)-4-nitrobenzene, whereas only trans-aziridines were obtained from ortho-nitro derivatives.

An efficient K3PO4-mediated synthesis of unsymmetrical diaryl ethers using the ionic liquid [Bmim]BF4 (1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate) as solvent has been developed. The procedure involves consecutive deprotection of aryl methane-sulfonates and a nucleophilic aromatic substitution (S(N)Ar) with activated aryl halides.

Diaryl ethers carrying carbamoyloxymethyl groups may be desymmetrised enantio- and diastereoselectively by the use of the sec-BuLi-(-)-sparteine complex in diethyl ether. Enantioselective deprotonation of one of the two benzylic positions leads to atropisomeric products with ca. 80:20 e.r.; an electrophilic quench typically provides functionalised atropisomeric diastereoisomers in up to 97:3 d.r.

A dramatic enhancement of the diastereo- and enantioselectivity in the nitro-Michael addition reaction organocatalysed by a commercially available α,α-L-diaryl prolinol was disclosed when performing the reaction in unconventional hexafluorobenzene as a medium. DFT calculations were performed to clarify the origin of stereoselectivity and the role of C(6)F(6).