Chirally LinkedIn: Chiral aldehydes are effective tethering catalysts for enantioselective intermolecular hydroamination, which provides access to vicinal diamine motifs in good yields and excellent enantioselectivities (see scheme). This work highlights simple chiral α‐oxygenated aldehydes as effective organocatalysts capable of efficiently inducing asymmetry through transient intramolecularity.

No abstract

The reduction of N-(p-fluorobenzenesulfonyl)phthalimide on polycrystalline gold and Au(111) was studied. Our key finding is the decomposition of the compound on the surface, leaving only sulfur behind. This was supported by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), cyclic voltammetry (CV) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The modification leads to observation by STM of well-known as well as new phases for the S modified Au(111) surface.

Catalysts possessing sufficient activity to achieve intermolecular alkene hydroaminations under mild conditions are rare, and this likely accounts for the scarcity of asymmetric variants of this reaction. Herein, highly diastereoselective hydroaminations of allylic amines utilizing hydroxylamines as reagents and formaldehyde as catalyst are reported. This catalyst induces temporary intramolecularity, which results in high rate accelerations, and high diastereocontrol with either chiral allylic amines or chiral hydroxylamines. The reaction scope includes internal alkenes. Overall this work provides a new, stereocontrolled route to form complex vicinal diamines.

Both enantiomers of the products can be obtained using aldehydes (I) or (II) as catalysts.