[reaction: see text] Terminal acetylenes containing hydroxy and carboxylic acid groups were subjected to Sonogashira coupling with 4-bromo-2,6-bis[(R)-4-phenyloxazolin-2-yl]pyridine and the resulting pybox derivatives were immobilized on Tentagel resins. Ytterbium(III) chloride complexes of the polymeric ligands catalyzed the addition of trimethylsilyl cyanide to benzaldehyde with 80-81% ee. The ligands were reused more than 30 times without any loss in selectivity or activity, and the metal complexes could be recovered and reused at least four times, although with slightly decreasing activity.

Palladium-catalyzed substitution of cyclohex-2-en-1-yl ethyl carbonate with neutral C-, O-, and N-nucleophiles was achieved in 1-2 minutes using microwave flash heating. Enantioselectivities up to 96% were observed. Ionic nucleophiles tended to result in lower ee. With S-nucleophiles problems with the stability of the nucleophile were encountered.

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[reaction: see text] Phosphinooxazolines carrying (1-hydroxy-1-phenyl)methyl and (1-methoxy-1-phenyl)methyl substituents in the 4 position of the oxazoline ring exhibit contrasting behavior in Pd- and Ir-catalyzed allylic alkylations. Whereas catalysts with the methoxy-containing ligand generally provide products with high ee's, use of catalysts prepared from the hydroxy-containing ligand results in products with low ee's or even racemates. DFT calculations suggest the presence of a hydrogen bond with Pd(0) as the proton acceptor in the hydroxy-containing olefin-Pd(0) complexes, which induces a conformational change in the ligand, leading to different stereoselectivity.

First to fourth generation dendritic substituents based on 2,2-bis(hydroxymethyl)propionic acid and (1R,2S,5R)-menthoxyacetic acid were attached to 2-(hydroxymethyl)pyridinooxazoline and bis[4-(hydroxymethyl)oxazoline] compounds. The new ligands obtained were assessed in palladium-catalyzed allylic alkylations. The first type of ligands exhibited enantioselectivity similar to that of a benzoyl ester derivative, whereas the latter type of ligands afforded products with higher selectivity than the analogous benzoyl ester. The activity of the dendritic catalysts decreased with increasing generation.