The first examples of 1,3,2-diazaphospholene-catalyzed imine reduction and conjugate reduction reactions are reported. This approach employs readily synthesized alkoxydiazaphospholene precatalysts that can be handled in open air. Reduction of substrates containing Lewis basic functionality, isolated unsaturation, and protic functional groups was accomplished. The synthetic utility of this approach is demonstrated by the synthesis of the important antiparkinson medicine rasagiline and the natural product zingerone.

The first use of phosphenium cations in asymmetric catalysis is reported. A diazaphosphenium triflate, prepared in two or three steps on a multigram scale from commercially available materials, catalyzes the hydroboration or hydrosilylation of cyclic imines with enantiomeric ratios of up to 97:3. Catalyst loadings are as low as 0.2 mol %. Twenty-two aryl/heteroaryl pyrrolidines and piperidines were prepared using this method. Imines containing functional groups such as thiophenes or pyridyl rings that can challenge transition-metal catalysts were reduced employing these systems.

The synthesis and study of the catalytic activity of 1,2,4,3-triazaphospholenes (TAPs) is reported. TAPs represent a more modular scaffold than previously reported diazaphospholenes. TAP halides were shown to catalyze the 1,2 hydroboration of 19 imines, and three α,β unsaturated aldehydes with pinacolborane, including examples that did not undergo hydroboration by previously reported diazaphospholene systems. DFT calculations support a mechanism where a triazaphospholene cation interacts with the substrate, a mechanism distinct from diazaphospholene catalyzed hydroborations.

The first use of diazaphospholenes as chiral catalysts has been demonstrated with enantioselective imine hydroboration. A chiral diazaphospholene prepared in a simple three-step synthesis from commercial materials has been shown to achieve the highest enantioselectivity for the hydroboration of alkyl imines with pinacolborane reported to date. Enantiomer ratios of up to 88:12 were obtained with low (2 mol %) catalyst loadings. Twenty examples of asymmetric reduction employing this main-group catalysis protocol, including the synthesis of the pharmaceuticals ent-rasagiline and fendiline, are shown.

The synthesis and applications of carboxy-MIDAboronate,anovel C1 building block, are described. This molecule is accessible via ar uthenium tetraoxide-mediated cleavage of commercially available ethynyl-MIDA-boronate. In the course of this study,carboxy-MIDA-boronate was found to possess ambident reactivity towards nucleophiles.C arboxylic acid derivatization produces ab road range of previously unknown carbamoyl-, oxycarbo-and thiocarboboronates. Carboxy-MIDA-boronate and its derivatives undergo condensations to access borylated heterocycles with boron at positions that are difficult to access using alternate methods.T he resulting heterocycles participate in the Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reaction, enabling entry into diverse bis(heteroaryl) motifs.T he carbon monoxide-releasing capacity of carboxy-MIDA-boronate was also examined and applied in palladium-catalyzed carbonylation.