An important challenge in asymmetric synthesis is the development of fully stereodivergent strategies to access the full complement of stereoisomers of products bearing multiple stereocenters. In the ideal case, where four products are possible, applying distinct catalysts to the same set of starting materials under identical conditions would in a single step afford any given stereoisomer. Herein, we describe the realization of this concept in a fully stereodivergent dual-catalytic synthesis of γ,δ-unsaturated aldehydes bearing vicinal quaternary/tertiary stereogenic centers. The reaction is enabled by chiral iridium and amine catalysts, which activate the allylic alcohol and aldehyde substrates, respectively. Each catalyst exerts high local stereocontrol irrespective of the other's inherent preference.

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The discovery, study, and implementation of the Co- and Mn-catalyzed hydrohydrazination and hydroazidation reactions of olefins are reported. These reactions are equivalent to direct hydroaminations of C-C double bonds with protected hydrazines or hydrazoic acid but are based on a different concept in which the H and the N atoms come from two different reagents, a silane and an oxidizing nitrogen source (azodicarboxylate or sulfonyl azide). The hydrohydrazination reaction using di-tert-butyl azodicarboxylate is characterized by its ease of use, large functional group tolerance, and broad scope, including mono-, di-, tri-, and tetrasubstituted olefins. Key to the development of the hydroazidation reaction was the use of sulfonyl azides as nitrogen sources and the activating effect of tert-butyl hydroperoxide. The reaction was found to be efficient for the functionalization of mono-, di-, and trisubstituted olefins, and only a few functional groups are not tolerated. The alkyl azides obtained are versatile intermediates and can be transformed to the free amines or triazoles without isolation of the azides. Preliminary mechanistic investigations suggest a rate-limiting hydrocobaltation of the alkene, followed by an amination reaction. Radical intermediates cannot be ruled out and may be involved.

An oxetane can trigger profound changes in aqueous solubility, lipophilicity, metabolic stability, and conformational preference when replacing commonly employed functionalities such as gem-dimethyl or carbonyl groups. The magnitude of these changes depends on the structural context. Thus, by substitution of a gem-dimethyl group with an oxetane, aqueous solubility may increase by a factor of 4 to more than 4000 while reducing the rate of metabolic degradation in most cases. The incorporation of an oxetane into an aliphatic chain can cause conformational changes favoring synclinal rather than antiplanar arrangements of the chain. Additionally spirocyclic oxetanes (e.g., 2-oxa-6-aza-spiro[3.3]heptane) bear remarkable analogies to commonly used fragments in drug discovery, such as morpholine, and are even able to supplant the latter in its solubilizing ability. A rich chemistry of oxetan-3-one and derived Michael acceptors provide venues for the preparation of a broad variety of novel oxetanes not previously documented, thus providing the foundation for their broad use in chemistry and drug discovery.

Metal-catalyzed asymmetric processes offer one of the most straightforward ways to introduce stereogenic centers. Hence, the development of novel chiral ligands that can effectively induce asymmetry in reactions is crucial in modern organic synthesis. While many established chiral ligands bind to a metal through heteroatoms, structures that coordinate to metals through carbon atoms have received little attention so far. Here, we highlight the increasing number of such chiral chelating olefin ligands as well as their application in a variety of metal-catalyzed transformations.

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Complex molecular architectures containing cyclopropanes present significant challenges for any synthetic chemist. This review aims to highlight the strategic considerations for introduction of the cyclopropane motif in a collection of recent total syntheses. At first, an overview of the most important and widely used cyclopropanation techniques is presented, followed by a discussion of elegant approaches and clever solutions that have been developed to enable the synthesis of various unique cyclopropane natural products or use of cyclopropanes as versatile strategic intermediates.

Sizable resources, both financial and human, are invested each year in the development of new pharmaceutical agents. However, despite improved techniques, the new compounds often encounter difficulties in satisfying and overcoming the numerous physicochemical and many pharmacological constraints and hurdles. Oxetanes have been shown to improve key properties when grafted onto molecular scaffolds. Of particular interest are oxetanes that are substituted only in the 3-position, since such units remain achiral and their introduction into a molecular scaffold does not create a new stereocenter. This Minireview gives an overview of the recent advances made in the preparation and use of 3-substituted oxetanes. It also includes a discussion of the site-dependent modifications of various physicochemical and biochemical properties that result from the incorporation of the oxetane unit in molecular architectures.