The activation of olefins for asymmetric chemical synthesis traditionally relies on transition metal catalysts. In contrast, biological enzymes with Brønsted acidic sites of appropriate strength can protonate olefins and thereby generate carbocations that ultimately react to form natural products. Although chemists have recently designed chiral Brønsted acid catalysts to activate imines and carbonyl compounds, mimicking these enzymes to protonate simple olefins that then engage in asymmetric catalytic reactions has remained a substantial synthetic challenge. Here, we show that a class of confined and strong chiral Brønsted acids enables the catalytic asymmetric intramolecular hydroalkoxylation of unbiased olefins. The methodology gives rapid access to biologically active 1,1-disubstituted tetrahydrofurans, including (-)-Boivinianin A.

In recent years the synthesis of amines and other nitrogen containing motifs has been a major area of research in organic chemistry due to their being widely represented in biologically active molecules. Current strategies rely on a multistep approach and require one reactant to be activated prior to the carbon-nitrogen bond formation. This leads to reaction inefficiency and functional group intolerance. As such, a general approach to the synthesis of nitrogen-containing compounds from readily available and benign starting materials is highly desirable. Here we present a Pd-catalyzed oxidative amination reaction, where the addition of the nitrogen occurs at the less substituted carbon of a double bond, in what is known as anti-Markovnikov selectivity. Alkenes are shown to react with imides in the presence of a palladate catalyst to generate the terminal imide via trans-aminopalladation. Subsequently, olefin isomerization occurs to afford the thermodynamically favored products. Both the scope of the transformation and mechanistic investigations are reported.

A Rh-catalyzed enantioselective hydroamination of allylamines using a chiral BIPHEP-type ligand is reported. Enantioenriched 1,2-diamines are formed in good yields and with excellent enantioselectivities. A diverse array of nucleophiles and amine directing groups are demonstrated, including deprotectable motifs. Finally, the methodology was demonstrated toward the rapid synthesis of 2-methyl-moclobemide.

The regiodivergent Rh-catalyzed hydrothiolation of allyl amines and imines is presented. Bidentate phosphine ligands with larger natural bite angles (βn ≥ 99°), for example, DPEphos, dpph, or L1, promote a Markovnikov-selective hydrothiolation in up to 88% yield and >20:1 regioselectivity. Conversely, when smaller bite angle ligands (βn ≤ 86°), for example, dppbz or dppp, are employed, the anti-Markovnikov product is formed in up to 74% yield and >20:1 regioselectivity. Initial mechanistic investigations are performed and are consistent with an oxidative addition/olefin insertion/reductive elimination mechanism for each regioisomeric pathway. We hypothesize that the change in regioselectivity is an effect of diverging coordination spheres to favor either Rh-S or Rh-H insertion to form the branched or linear isomer, respectively.

Asymmetric hydroalkoxylation of alkenes constitutes a redox-neutral and 100% atom-economical strategy toward enantioenriched oxygenated building blocks from readily available starting materials. Despite their great potential, catalytic enantioselective additions of alcohols across a C–C multiple bond are particularly underdeveloped, especially compared to other hydrofunctionalization methods such as hydroamination. However, driven by some recent innovations, e.g., asymmetric MHAT methods, asymmetric photocatalytic methods, and the development of extremely strong chiral Brønsted acids, there has been a gratifying surge of reports in this burgeoning field. The goal of this review is to survey the growing landscape of asymmetric hydroalkoxylation by highlighting exciting new advances, deconstructing mechanistic underpinnings, and drawing insight from related asymmetric hydroacyloxylation and hydration. A deep appreciation of the underlying principles informs an understanding of the various selectivity parameters and activation modes in the realm of asymmetric alkene hydrofunctionalization while simultaneously evoking the outstanding challenges to the field moving forward. Overall, we aim to lay a foundation for cross-fertilization among various catalytic fields and spur further innovation in asymmetric hydroalkoxylations of C–C multiple bonds.