Enantioselective Direct Alkynylation of Ketones Catalyzed by Chiral CCN Pincer RhIII Complexes.

A direct asymmetric alkynylation of ketones with new chiral CCN Rh catalysts containing N-heterocyclic carbene and oxazoline hybrid ligands is described. The catalytic reaction of fluoroalkyl-substituted ketones, ArCOCF2 X (X=F, Cl, H), with aromatic and aliphatic alkynes yielded the corresponding chiral propargyl alcohols with high enantioselectivity. Control and kinetic experiments suggested a bis(alkynyl) Rh intermediate as the active species for the C-C bond-forming step.

Asymmetric Three-Component Coupling Reaction of Alkyne, Enone, and Aldehyde Catalyzed by Chiral Phebox Ruthenium Catalysts.

Catalytic asymmetric three-component coupling reactions of terminal alkynes, α,ß-unsaturated ketones, and aldehydes were studied. The chiral ruthenium complexes containing bis(oxazolinyl)phenyl ligands were found to serve as efficient catalysts for a tandem reaction based on conjugate addition of terminal alkynes to α,ß-unsaturated ketones and subsequent aldol reaction with aldehydes, giving ß-hydroxyketone derivatives containing α-propargyl groups in high yields with moderate to good enantioselectivities. This method can produce various functional molecules from commercially available substrates in a one-pot procedure. The absolute configuration of the major product was determined by X-ray analysis. The control experiments suggested that a ruthenium enolate species generated in situ by conjugate addition could be involved as an intermediate for the aldol coupling with an aldehyde.