Nature Communications (Jan 2025)

Enantioselective Heck/Tsuji−Trost reaction of flexible vinylic halides with 1,3-dienes

  • Li-Zhi Zhang,
  • Pei-Chao Zhang,
  • Qian Wang,
  • Min Zhou,
  • Junliang Zhang

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56142-z
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 16, no. 1
pp. 1 – 7

Abstract

Read online

Abstract The enantioselective domino Heck/cross-coupling has emerged as a powerful tool in modern chemical synthesis for decades. Despite significant progress in relative rigid skeleton substrates, the implementation of asymmetric Heck/cross-coupling cascades of highly flexible haloalkene substrates remains a challenging and and long-standing goal. Here we report an efficient asymmetric domino Heck/Tsuji−Trost reaction of highly flexible vinylic halides with 1,3-dienes enabled by palladium catalysis. Specifically, the Heck insertion as stereodetermining step to form ƞ3 allyl palladium complex and in situ trapping with nucleophiles enable efficient Heck/etherification in a formal (4 + 2) cycloaddition manner. Engineering the Sadphos bearing androgynous non-C2-symmetric chiral sulfinamide phosphine ligands are vital component in achieving excellent catalytic reactivity and enantioselectivity. This strategy offers a general, modular and divergent platform for rapidly upgrading feedstock flexible vinylic halides and dienes to various value-added molecules and is expected to inspire the development of other challenging enantioselective domino Heck/cross-couplings.