Visible light driven organic chemistry has sparked much excitement over the last several years. This review summarizes recent progress in combining visible light activation with asymmetric catalysis, processes that are either mediated by photoinduced electron or energy transfer. The tasks of photoactivation and asymmetric catalysis are typically accomplished by dual catalyst systems but several...

(Salen)Mn(III) catalysts show increased turnover numbers in the catalytic asymmetric epoxidation of conjugated olefins upon addition of bulky Lewis acids (LA) such as zinc tetraphenylporphyrin (ZnTPP). Up to 3-fold increase in total catalytic activity and at least a 20-fold increase in catalyst stability was observed with a (salen)Mn catalyst bearing pendant 5,5′-bis-pyridyl groups. This latter...

The first direct enantioselective catalytic alpha-oxidation of carbonyls has been accomplished. The use of enamine catalysis has provided a new organocatalytic strategy for the enantioselective oxyamination of aldehydes, to generate alpha-oxyaldehydes, important chiral synthons for natural product and medicinal agent synthesis. The use of l-proline as the asymmetric catalyst has been found to m...

A series of 19 different asymmetric catalysts were screened in an effort to identify the first chiral catalyst for the rearrangement of α-hydroxy imines to α-amino ketones involving a 1,2-carbon shift. Although aluminate complexes of VAPOL, VANOL, and 7,7'-(t)Bu2VANOL were quite effective catalysts giving up to 88% ee, the ne plus ultra catalyst for this reaction was found to be a zirconium com...

Chiral trivalent phosphorus species are the dominant class of ligands and the key controlling element in asymmetric homogeneous transition-metal catalysis. Here, novel chiral diaminophosphine oxide ligands are described. The arising catalyst system with nickel(0) and trimethylaluminum efficiently activates formamide C-H bonds under mild conditions providing pyrrolidones via intramolecular hydro...

0957-4166/$ see front matter 2010 Elsevier Ltd. A doi:10.1016/j.tetasy.2010.03.053 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +44 24 7652 3260; fa E-mail address: [email protected] (M. Wills) The first report of an asymmetric transfer hydrogenation, in formic acid/triethylamine, of quinolines is described. Using a Ru(II) catalyst containing a 4-carbon tether, products of up to 73% ee were formed, whilst...

New supramolecular photocatalysts comprising an asymmetric bis-tridentate Ru(ii) complex that functions as a photosensitizer and a Ru(ii) carbonyl complex as the catalyst were designed. The complexes photocatalyzed the reduction of CO2 to CO or formic acid with high selectivity. The product distribution depended on the catalyst unit. CO and formic acid were the main products when using [Ru(BL)(...

Twelve P-chiral phosphine oxides were screened for their ability to act as a chiral Lewis base catalyst for the asymmetric hydrosilylation of ketimines, providing chiral amines in good conversion and yield, but relatively poor enantioselectivity (ee <30%). Mechanistic studies paralleling work on chiral sulfinamides have shown a non-linear relationship of catalyst enantioselectivity and the chir...

An organocatalytic asymmetric synthesis of a novel, highly functionalised cyclopropane system furnished with versatile substituents and containing a quaternary centre is described. The process utilises a new bifunctional catalyst based on the cinchona alkaloid framework and the products made using this catalyst were obtained as single diastereoisomers, with very high enantioselectivities (up to...

This Account outlines our efforts in the design and synthesis of a family of highly effective atropisomeric dipyridylphosphine ligands (P-Phos and its variants) and in the development of their widespread applications in transition-metal-catalyzed asymmetric reactions including hydrogenation, hydrosilylation, and C-C bond formation. Desirable attributes, such as air stability, broad substrate sc...