(R)-3,5-diCF3-SYNPHOS and (R)-p-CF3-SYNPHOS, electron-poor diphosphines for efficient room temperature Rh-catalyzed asymmetric conjugate addition of arylboronic acids.

Two new atropisomeric electron-poor chiral diphosphine ligand analogues of SYNPHOS were prepared, and their electronic properties are described. These two ligands afforded high performance for the Rh-catalyzed asymmetric 1,4-addition of arylboronic acids to α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds at room temperature.

Asymmetric total synthesis and stereochemical revision of gymnangiamide.

The asymmetric total synthesis of the originally proposed structure of gymnangiamide, a cytotoxic pentapeptide isolated from the marine hydroid Gymnangium regae Jaderholm, has been achieved. Key to the synthesis was the use of asymmetric hydrogenation of alpha-substituted beta-ketoesters through dynamic kinetic resolution for the preparation of nonproteinogenic chiral amino acids. The disparity of the NMR spectra between the synthetic material containing the L-serine residue and the natural product required a revision of the proposed structure.