Palladium-catalyzed allene synthesis enabled by β-hydrogen elimination from sp-carbon.

The rational design based on a deep understanding of the present reaction mechanism is an important, viable approach to discover new organic transformations. β-Hydrogen elimination from palladium complexes is a fundamental reaction in palladium catalysis. Normally, the eliminated β-hydrogen has to be attached to a sp-carbon.

Stereoselective synthesis of conjugated trienes 1,4-palladium migration/Heck sequence.

Conjugated trienes are ubiquitous structures in natural products and organic functional molecules. An efficient 1,4-palladium migration/Heck sequence was developed for the highly stereoselective synthesis of trisubstituent 1,3,5-trienes, which were found to undergo easy E/Z isomerization in the presence of light.

Enantioselective Rhodium-Catalyzed Alkenylation of Aliphatic Imines.

An efficient, enantioselective rhodium-catalyzed addition of potassium alkenyltrifluoroborates to N-nosyl aliphatic imines has been realized. Good reaction yields and excellent enantioselectivities (94-99% ee) were obtained for a variety of aliphatic imines and nucleophilic alkenyltrifluoroborates. An active rhodium-diene catalyst and the precise reaction condition control proved to be pivotal for success.