Asymmetric catalytic addition of diorganozinc reagents to imines: Scope and application*
André B. Charette, Alessandro A. Boezio, Alexandre Côté, Elaine Moreau, Julien Pytkowicz, Jean-Nicolas Desrosiers, and Claude Legault
Département de Chimie, Université de Montréal, Montréal H3C 3J7, Canada
Abstract: The copper-catalyzed diorganozinc addition to N-diphenylphosphinoylimines was shown to proceed with a very high degree of enantiocontrol if the reaction was run in the presence of Me-DuPHOS monoxide ligand (BozPHOS). The scope of the reaction is described as well as our efforts to identify the nature of the enantioactive metal complex responsible for the high asymmetric induction.
Keywords: asymmetry; enantioselectivity; catalysis; copper; redox; sulfinate; diorganozinc; BozPHOS; α-chiral amines; phosphinoylimine.
*An issue of reviews and research papers based on lectures presented at the 15th International Conference on Organic Synthesis (ICOS-15), held in Nagoya, Japan, 1-6 August 2004, on the theme of organic synthesis. Other presentations are published in this issue, pp. 1087-1296.