Catalyst-controlled doubly enantioconvergent coupling of racemic alkyl nucleophiles and electrophiles.

Stereochemical control in the construction of carbon-carbon bonds between an alkyl electrophile and an alkyl nucleophile is a persistent challenge in organic synthesis. Classical substitution reactions via SN1 and SN2 pathways are limited in their ability to generate carbon-carbon bonds (inadequate scope, due to side reactions such as rearrangements and eliminations) and to control stereochemistry when beginning with readily available racemic starting materials (racemic products). Here, we report a chiral nickel catalyst that couples racemic electrophiles (propargylic halides) with racemic nucleophiles (ß-zincated amides) to form carbon-carbon bonds in doubly stereoconvergent processes, affording a single stereoisomer of the product from two stereochemical mixtures of reactants.

C-H Alkenylation of Heteroarenes: Mechanism, Rate, and Selectivity Changes Enabled by Thioether Ligands.

Thioether ancillary ligands have been identified that can greatly accelerate the C-H alkenylation of O-, S-, and N-heteroarenes. Kinetic data suggest thioether-Pd-catalyzed reactions can be as much as 800× faster than classic ligandless systems. Furthermore, mechanistic studies revealed C-H bond cleavage as the turnover-limiting step, and that rate acceleration upon thioether coordination is correlated to a change from a neutral to a cationic pathway for this key step. The formation of a cationic, low-coordinate catalytic intermediate in these reactions may also account for unusual catalyst-controlled site selectivity wherein C-H alkenylation of five-atom heteroarenes can occur under electronic control with thioether ligands even when this necessarily involves reaction at a more hindered C-H bond. The thioether effect also enables short reaction times under mild conditions for many O-, S-, and N-heteroarenes (55 examples), including examples of late-stage drug derivatization.