We have developed efficient copper-catalyzed additions of P(O)H compounds to alkynes, and the reactions provided the regio- and stereoselective E-alkenylphosphine oxides under catalysis of the commercially available and inexpensive copper catalyst system CuI/ethylenediamine. This finding is the first example of copper-catalyzed hydrophosphinylation of alkynes to synthesize alkenylphosphine oxides.

A range of air-stable copper species was examined for catalytic activity in the catalytic aerobic transformation of phenols into ortho-quinones. Efficient catalysis was obtained with commercially available copper(II) acetate. The stability of all constituents before mixing makes for a practical process that advances previously reported copper(I)-based oxygenations.

The 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of azides and activated alkynes has been used for site-selective labeling of biomolecules in vitro and in vivo. While copper catalysis has been widely employed to activate terminal alkynes for [3 + 2] cycloaddition, this method, often termed "click chemistry", is currently incompatible with living systems because of the toxicity of the metal. We recently reported a...

An unprecedented utilization of 1,3-acetonedicarboxylic acid as a 1,3-bis-pro-nucleophile and a reactive acetone surrogate in enantioselective catalysis has been reported. By synergistically activating the ketodiacid by copper catalysis and an α,β-unsaturated aldehyde by amine catalysis, an efficient domino di-decarboxylative Michael/aldol/dehydration sequence takes place leading to valuable ch...

Key words copper catalysis - hydromethylation methyl group olefins

Key words copper catalysis - borylation conjugate addition oxidation

Key words copper catalysis - enantioselectivity enolate addition

Copper is a very versatile transition metal that has been used as a building material by human civilizations for over 6000 years. Copper is also an essential element, responsible for important biological processes. The title of this Thematic Series published in the Beilstein Journal of Organic Chemistry is “Copper catalysis in organic synthesis”. A web of scienceTM topic search of “copper-catal...

Phenyl- and ethyl-magnesium bromides undergo regioselective asymmetric allylic substitution with high enantioselectivity under the catalysis of chiral amidophosphane-copper(I) complexes.