Chiral a-branched allylic amines are important building blocks for organic synthesis, and several catalytic asymmetric methods have been developed for their synthesis. For example, the enantioselective metal-catalyzed amination of allylic electrophiles [1][2][3] and the rearrangement of allylic imidates [4][5][6] have proven to be highly effective. An alternative approach to chiral allylic amines that can be advantageous from the viewpoint of convergency is the catalytic enantioselective union of an alkenyl nucleophile with an imine. [7][8][9][10][11][12] In view of the widespread success of enantioselective Rh Icatalyzed additions of arylboron reagents to imines as a means to access chiral a-aryl-branched amines, [13][14][15] the development of the corresponding reactions of alkenylboron reagents to prepare chiral a-branched allylic amines should be an attractive goal. Surprisingly, however, only very limited precedent exists for this transformation. [16] Brak and Ellman have developed highly diastereoselective Rh I -catalyzed additions of alkenylboron reagents to N-tert-butanesulfinyl aldimines (Scheme 1 A). [17] The only existing enantioselective variant is that of Shintani, Hayashi, and co-workers, who, as part of a study involving additions of potassium aryltrifluoroborates to N-sulfonyl ketimines, also described one example using an alkenyltrifluoroborate (Scheme 1 B). [15c] Also of relevance is a single example of an enantioselective Rh Icatalyzed addition of an alkenylsilane to an N-sulfonyl aldimine. [18] Therefore, a general enantioselective Rh I -catalyzed addition of alkenylboron reagents to imines remains undeveloped.Herein, we demonstrate that cyclic imines are highly effective substrates for enantioselective Rh I -catalyzed additions of potassium alkenyltrifluoroborates, [19,20] providing products in excellent enantioselectivities and generally good yields. The cyclic structure of these imines, in which the C = N bond is constrained in the Z geometry, appears to be important for the success of the reactions.This study began with the attempted alkenylation of acyclic imines 1 a-d with potassium (E)-1-hexenyltrifluoroborate (2 equiv) at 80 8C in dioxane for 24 h in the presence of MeOH (5 equiv) and 1.5 mol % of the dimeric rhodium complexes derived from chiral diene ligands [21,22] L1 [15a] or L2 [23] (Table 1). Given that imines 1 a-d are highly effective Scheme 1. Rh I -catalyzed additions of alkenylborons to imines. MIDA = N-methyliminodiacetic acid.Table 1: Attempted Rh-catalyzed alkenylation of various imines. Entry Imine Ligand Product Yield [%] [a] ee [%] [b]