posted on 2017-02-28, 18:21authored byShi-Wu Li, Jun Gong, Qiang Kang
A newly prepared
chiral-at-metal Rh(III) complex-catalyzed, highly
efficient enantioselective decarboxylative Michael addition of β-keto
acids with α,β-unsaturated 2-acyl imidazoles or pyridine
has been developed, affording the corresponding adducts in 94–98%
yield with up to 96% enantioselectivity. This protocol exhibits remarkable
reactivity, as the complex with a Rh(III) loading as low as 0.05 mol
% can catalyze the decarboxylative Michael addition on a gram scale
without loss of enantioselectivity.