Iridium-catalyzed C-C bond formation : development of crotylation and methallylation reactions through transfer hydrogenation

Under the conditions of transfer hydrogenation utilizing chromatographically purified ortho-cyclometallated iridium C,O-benzoate precatalysts, enantioselective carbonyl crotylation and methallylation can be performed in the absence of stoichiometric metallic reagents and stoichiometric chiral modifiers. In the case of carbonyl crotylation, use of a preformed precatalyst rather than an in situ generated catalyst results in lower reaction temperatures, providing generally higher diastereoselectivity and yields. By utilizing a more reactive leaving group in chloride over acetate on our methallyl donor, the inherently shorter lifetime of the olefin π-complex is compensated for, giving our group’s first report of reactivity utilizing 1,1-disubstituted allyl donors.