Synergistic Action of Copper Catalysts and Lewis Acids in Carbon–Carbon Bond Forming Reactions

Abstract

Combining Lewis acids with copper catalysis and highly reactive Grignard reagents allows fine tuning of the reactivity and selectivity of both inherently unreactive and highly reactive electrophilic substrates in asymmetric C–C bond forming reactions. In this review we will discuss various examples where the application of this strategy provides access to efficient catalytic processes for the synthesis of chiral molecules such as alcohols, amides and heteroarenes.

Keywords

• Alkylation
• Asymmetric catalysis
• Copper
• Grignard reagents
• Lewis acid