Enantioselective palladium catalyzed conjugate additions of ortho-substituted arylboronic acids to β,β-disubstituted cyclic enones: total synthesis of herbertenediol, enokipodin A and enokipodin B.

The palladium-catalyzed conjugate addition (Michael addition) of ortho-substituted arylboronic acids to β,β-disubstituted cyclic enones, in particular 3-methyl cyclopent-2-enone and 3-methyl cyclohex-2-enone, is reported. With an achiral bipyridine-based palladium catalyst, good yields are obtained with a variety of ortho-substituted arylboronic acids. In the asymmetric version, good to very high enantiomeric excesses (up to 99% ee) are obtained, though the yields are moderate.