In this review, an attempt is made to systemise the ro √ le which bidentate phosphinamine (P,N) ligands play in asymmetric catalysis. The ligands will be classified, not by the reaction to which their metal complexes have been applied, but by the nature of their donor atoms. In this manner the development of ligand architectural design can be more easily monitored. The asymmetric transformations to which metal complexes of these ligands have been applied include among others, palladium-catalysed allylic substitutions, copper-catalysed 1,4-additions to enones and rhodiumcatalysed hydroboration of vinylarenes. Excellent enantioselectivities, regioselectivities and reactivities have been achieved in each of these processes.

The preparation and resolution of a series of axially chiral quinazoline-containing ligands is described in which the key steps are the metal-catalyzed naphthyl-phosphorus bond formation, the naphthalene-quinazoline Suzuki coupling, and the preparation of the Suzuki electrophilic components from the corresponding imidate and anthranilic acid. Diastereomeric palladacycles derived from the racemic phosphinamines and (+)-di-mu-chlorobis[(R)-dimethyl(1-(1-naphthyl)ethyl)aminato-C2,N]dipalladium(II) were separated by fractional crystallization. The configuration of the resulting diastereomers was determined by X-ray crystallographic analysis. Displacement of the resolving agent by reaction with 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane afforded enantiopure ligand in each case. Their rhodium complexes were prepared and applied in the enantioselective hydroboration of a range of vinylarenes. The quinazolinap catalysts were found to be extremely active, giving excellent conversions, good to complete regioselectivities, and the highest enantioselectivities obtained to date for several members of the vinylarene class, including cis-beta-methylstyrene (97%), cis-stilbene (99%), and indene (99.5%).

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