Catalytic conjugate addition of allyl groups to styryl-activated enones.

Transition-metal-catalyzed conjugate addition of organometallics to activated alkenes is an important process.1 Intense research has focused on the utility of copper2 and rhodium catalysts for asymmetric additions,3 and recent efforts have led to the introduction of effective palladium4 catalysts. Each catalyst system exhibits a unique reactivity profile. The rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric conjugate addition, first introduced by Hayashi and Miyaura,5 is effective with many activated alkenes, and it may employ boronic acids in addition to a variety of other organometallic reagents (i.e., silanes,6 stannanes,7 titanates,8 and zincates9). However, the reaction is limited by the requirement that the organic fragment must be an aryl or vinyl group. Copper catalysis enables the asymmetric conjugate addition of alkyl-derived organometallics, although air-sensitive organozinc and magnesium reagents are generally required.2,10 Significantly, neither rhodium, copper, nor palladium catalysis has been extended to the enantioselective addition of allyl nucleophiles.11 In this report, we describe the catalytic conjugate allylation of enones with the pinacol ester of allylboronic acid [allylB(pin)]. This is an unprecedented reactivity mode for allylboron compounds, reagents that typically react by 1,2-addition to carbonyls. During our studies on the Pd-catalyzed asymmetric diboration of allenes, we made the surprising observation that the allylboron product undergoes conjugate addition to dibenzylidene acetone, the ligand on the Pd2(dba)3 precatalyst.12 Examination of this side reaction was conducted with commercially available air-stable allylB(pin) and a variety of activated alkenes, in the presence of Pd2(dba)3 and PCy3. Whereas simple unsaturated ketones, esters, amides, imides, and nitriles afford little addition product, the reaction with dibenzylidene acetone is remarkably efficient. The experiments summarized in Scheme 1 illustrate the rapidity with which the reaction occurs, so long as an appropriate catalyst is employed and the enone is activated by an auxiliary styryl unit; in the absence of either, no reaction occurs.