Strategies that enable the efficient assembly of complex building blocks from feedstock chemicals are of paramount importance to synthetic chemistry. Building upon the pioneering work of Murai and co-workers in 1993, C–H-activation-based enantioselective hydroarylations of alkenes offer a particularly promising framework for the step- and atom-economical installation of benzylic stereocenters. This short review presents recent intermolecular enantioselective Murai-type alkene hydroarylation methodologies and the mechanisms by which they proceed.1 Introduction2 Enantioselective Hydroarylation Reactions of Strained Bicyclic Alkenes3 Enantioselective Hydroarylation Reactions of Electron-Rich Acyclic Alkenes4 Enantioselective Hydroarylation Reactions of Electron-Poor Acyclic Alkenes5 Enantioselective Hydroarylation Reactions of Minimally Polarized Acyclic Alkenes6 Conclusion and Outlook

Quaternary benzylic centers are accessed with high atom and step economy by intermolecular Ir-catalyzed hydroarylation of non-polarized 1,1-disubstituted alkenes.