Controlling selectivity in novel transition metal catalyzed carbon-carbon bond forming hydrogenations

The focus of my graduate research in the Krische group has been the development of catalytic carbon-carbon bond forming reactions with an emphasis on controlling diastereo- and enatio-selectivity in transfer hydrogenative couplings. The broad goal of our research program has been the development and implementation of efficient green methods for carbonyl addition employing [pi]-unsaturates as surrogates to preformed organometallic reagents, thus enabling byproduct free variants of traditional carbanion chemistry. This dissertation shows the new reactions that I have developed toward this goal. These reactions includes new metal catalyzed approaches for carbonyl crotylation, aminoallylation, and vinylogous reformatsky aldol reactions.