A novel copper-catalyzed one-pot trifluoromethylation/aryl migration/desulfonylation and C(sp(2))-N bond formation with conjugated tosyl amides as starting materials is presented here. The reaction affords α-aryl-β-trifluoromethyl amides bearing a quaternary stereocenter or trifluoromethylated oxindoles in a regioselective manner.

The enantioselective synthesis of molecules containing quaternary stereocenters is a field of intense research interest and development. Among the known organic transformations, carbopalladation-initiated domino transformations constitutes a general method for the construction of compounds containing cyclic or spiro quaternary stereocenters. In this Minireview, recent achievements in palladium-catalyzed domino Heck/C-H functionalizations and developments in enantioselective carbopalladation-initiated domino processes are summarized.

The addition of a variety of radicals to the double bond of N-(arylsulfonyl)acrylamides can trigger cyclization/aryl migration/desulfonylation cascades via amidyl radical intermediates 2. Herein, we demonstrate the synthetic utility of these intermediates in subsequent C-C and C-X bond-forming events to rapidly build up molecular complexity. First, we describe a regioselective one-pot synthesis of CF3-, SCF3-, Ph2(O)P-, and N3-containing indolo[2,1-a]isoquinolin-6(5H)-ones from N-[(2-ethynyl)arylsulfonyl]acrylamides through a multi-step radical reaction cascade. The process involves the one-pot formation of four new bonds (one C-X, two C-C, and one C-N), a formal 1,4-aryl migration, and desulfonylation of the starting material. Second, we present a one-pot synthesis of 3,3-disubstituted-2-dihydropyridinones from N-(arylsulfonyl)acrylamides and 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds. In this case, a silver-catalyzed radical cascade process involving the sequential formation of two new C-C bonds and one C-N bond, a formal 1,4-aryl migration, and desulfonylation of the starting material explains the regioselective formation of densely functionalized heterocycles in a straightforward manner. Control experiments have unraveled the key intermediates as well as the sequence of individual steps involved in these transformations.

A Ni-catalyzed enantioselective reductive diarylation of activated alkenes by domino cyclizative/cross-coupling of two aryl bromides is developed. This reaction proceeds under very mild conditions and shows broad substrate scope, without requiring the use of preformed organometallic reagents. Moreover, this approach provides direct access to various bis-heterocycles bearing all-carbon quaternary centers in synthetically useful yields (up to 81%) with excellent enantioselectivity (>30 examples, 90–99% ee).

Metal-free: The first metal-free aryltrifluoromethylation of activated alkenes has been developed. With this method, trifluoromethylated isoquinolinediones, spirobicycles, oxindoles, and α-aryl-β-trifluoromethylamides were obtained with high control of the regioselectivity.

Enantio- and regioselective: The intramolecular enantioselective aminofluorination of unactivated olefins was achieved by using a chiral iodo(III) difluoride salt. A highly regioselective aminofluorination of styrenes to access 2-fluoro-2-phenylethanamines was also developed.

Two radical-mediated processes of activated alkenes, namely arylphosphonylation and arylazidation, are described. The difunctionalization of alkenes by a tandem process that involves radical addition, 1,4-aryl migration, and desulfonylation generates α-aryl-β-heterofunctionalized amides bearing a quaternary stereocenter when the substituent on the nitrogen atom is an aryl group. Alternatively, heterooxindoles or spirobicycles can be obtained with excellent regioselectivity in the presence of an alkyl substituent on the nitrogen atom.

Pd-catalyzed intramolecular asymmetric carbopalladation of N-aryl acrylamides followed by reduction of C(sp )-Pd intermediate using diboron-water as a hydride source afforded enantioenriched 3,3-disubstituted oxindoles in high yields and enantioselectivities. When heavy water was used as a deuterium donor in combination with bis(catecholato)diboron (Cat B ), deuterium was incorporated into the products with high synthetic efficiency. The ligand determined both the enantioselectivity of the reaction and the reaction pathways, thereby affording either hydroarylation (reductive Heck) or carboborylation products.