Reactions involving the selective activation and subsequent functionalization of C-H bonds have a high synthetic value because of their economic and ecological benefits. Despite many advances in addressing reactivity and refining mechanistic understanding, catalytic enantioselective transformations remain very challenging. The often required harsh reaction conditions, the use of uncommon ligand systems or bar metal salts have hampered developments in this area. The development of efficient ligands is crucial to success for asymmetric reactions. The presentation will cover enantiotopic functionalizations of C(sp3)-H bonds using Pd(0) complexes. Moreover, the development of chiral cyclopentadienyls (Cpx) as enabling ligand platform will be presented. Equipped with these Cpx ligands, a variety of late transition-metals are competent catalysts for enantioselective C-H activations. Several examples illustrate their utility for a streamlined access to functionalized chiral building blocks.
Nicolai Cramer (Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne)