Palladium-catalyzed asymmetric intermolecular Mizoroki-Heck reaction for construction of a chiral quaternary carbon center.

Palladium-catalyzed asymmetric intermolecular Mizoroki-Heck reaction for the construction of a chiral quaternary carbon center is developed, affording 2,2-disubstituted 2,5-dihydrofurans in high yield with excellent enantioselectivity. The products are easily converted into the corresponding butenolides with retention of enantioselectivity.

A new strategy to construct a C=C-CF3 subunit via CuBr-catalyzed domino reaction of homopropargyl amines: an efficient synthesis of trifluoromethyl containing building blocks 4-trifluoromethyl-2,3-dihydro-pyrroliums.

A new strategy for the construction of a C=C-CF3 subunit has been developed via CuBr-catalyzed domino cyclization-trifluoromethylation of homopropargyl amines with Umemoto's reagent. 4-Trifluoromethyl-2,3-dihydro-pyrroliums were produced in high yields. The usefulness of these products has been demonstrated by the transformation of them into various other trifluoromethylated molecules.

Palladium-catalyzed regio-, diastereo-, and enantioselective allylation of nitroalkanes with monosubstituted allylic substrates.

Pd-catalyzed asymmetric allylic alkylation of nitroalkanes and monosubstituted allylic substrates was performed to afford products with two adjacent chiral centers and with excellent regio-, diastereo-, and enantioselectivities. The usefulness of the protocol in organic synthesis was demonstrated by transformation of the product to an optically active homoallylamine, a 2,3-disubstituted tetrahydropyridine, and an α,ß-disubstituted amino acid derivative.