This account describes our laboratory’s efforts in the development of a palladium-catalyzed asymmetric conjugate addition of arylboronic acids to cyclic conjugate acceptors. Specifically, we highlight the study of this transformation in the following areas: (a) construction of all-carbon quaternary stereocenters, (b) elucidation of the reaction mechanism, (c) addition to heterocyclic acceptors to generate tertiary stereocenters, and (d) application in the synthesis of natural products.

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The first highly enantioselective iridium-catalyzed allylic alkylation providing access to products bearing an allylic all-carbon quaternary stereogenic center has been developed. The reaction utilizes a masked acyl cyanide (MAC) reagent, which enables the one-pot preparation of α-quaternary carboxylic acids, esters, and amides with a high degree of enantioselectivity. The utility of these products is further explored via a series of diverse product transformations.

The development of the first enantioselective transition-metal-catalyzed allylic alkylation providing access to acyclic products bearing vicinal all-carbon quaternary centers is disclosed. The iridium-catalyzed allylic alkylation reaction proceeds with excellent yields and selectivities for a range of malononitrile-derived nucleophiles and trisubstituted allylic electrophiles. The utility of these sterically congested products is explored through a series of diverse chemo- and diastereoselective product transformations to afford a number of highly valuable, densely functionalized building blocks, including those containing vicinal all-carbon quaternary stereocenters.

A catalytic, enantioselective formal synthesis of (+)-dichroanone and (+)-taiwaniaquinone H is reported. The all-carbon quaternary stereocenter was constructed by asymmetric conjugate addition catalyzed by a palladium(II) (S)-tert-butylpyridinooxazoline complex. The unexpected formation of a [3.2.1] bicyclic intermediate required the identification of a new route. Analysis of the Hammett constants for para-substituted arenes enabled the rational design of a highly enantioselective conjugate addition substrate that led to the completion of the formal synthesis.