We report a study involving the successful merger of two separate chiral catalytic cycles: a chiral anion phase-transfer catalysis cycle to activate Selectfluor and an enamine activation cycle, using a protected amino acid as organocatalyst. We have demonstrated the viability of this approach with the direct asymmetric fluorination of α-substituted cyclohexanones to generate quaternary fluorine...

The first asymmetric Kumada reactions of alkyl electrophiles are described, specifically, cross-couplings of racemic alpha-bromoketones with aryl Grignard reagents. Several features of this investigation are of interest. First, the couplings proceed at remarkably low temperature (-40 or -60 degrees C), which enables the asymmetric synthesis of racemization-prone alpha-arylketones. Second, dialk...

A combinatorial in situ three-component chiral oxazoline-Schiff base copper(II) complex catalyst formation method was developed. This simple combinatorial chiral catalyst approach provided a modular library of chiral oxazoline-Schiff base copper(II) complex catalysts. The catalytic activity of these in situ generated catalysts can be rapidly and conveniently evaluated in the asymmetric Henry re...

The observation and investigation of nonlinear effects in catalytic reactions provides valuable mechanistic insight. However, the applicability of this method was, until now, limited to molecules possessing chirality and therefore to asymmetric synthesis. The concept of nonlinear effects is expanded to catalytic reactions beyond asymmetric catalysis by using derivatives instead of enantiomers a...

The organocatalysis-based dynamic kinetic resolution (DKR) process has proved to be a powerful strategy for the construction of chiral compounds. In this feature review, we summarized recent progress on the DKR process, which was promoted by chiral bifunctional (thio)urea and squaramide catalysis via hydrogen-bonding interactions between substrates and catalysts. A wide range of asymmetric reac...

Propargylamines are important intermediates for the synthesis of polyfunctional amino derivatives and natural products and biologically active compounds. The classic method of synthesizing chiral propargylamines involves the asymmetric alkynylation of imines. Here, we report a significant advance in the catalytic asymmetric Mannich-type synthesis of propargylamines through catalytic asymmetric ...

Abstract The application of biocatalysis in conquering challenging synthesis requires the constant input new enzymes. Developing novel biocatalysts by absorbing catalysis modes from synthetic chemistry has yielded fruitful new‐to‐nature Organocatalysis was originally bio‐inspired and become third pillar asymmetric catalysis. Transferring organocatalytic reactions back to enzyme platforms is a p...