The development and application of chiral, non-racemic Re(V)-oxo complexes to the enantioselective reduction of prochiral ketones is described. In addition to the enantioselective reduction of prochiral ketones, we report the application of these complexes to 1) a tandem Meyer-Schuster rearrangement/reduction to access enantioenriched allylic alcohols and 2) the enantioselective reduction of im...

A novel strategy for catalytic oxidation of a variety of benzylic, allylic, propargylic, and aliphatic alcohols to the corresponding aldehydes or ketones by an in situ formed porphyrin-inspired manganese complex in excellent yields (up to 99%) has been successfully developed.

This personal account summarizes our recent developments in gold-catalyzed direct substitutions on propargylic (allylic, benzylic) alcohols, with various nucleophiles (and bi-nucleophiles) based on the σ- and/or π-acidity of gold(III) complexes. Synthetic developments are also briefly described.

The iridium(I) hydroxide complex [Ir(OH)(COD)(I(i)Pr)] has been shown to be a competent catalyst for the rearrangement of allylic alcohols to ketones. Reactions proceed in short reaction times (1-1.5 h) with microwave heating, in the absence of additives.

In this communication, we present a regioselectivity switch for the chiral amine-catalysed asymmetric addition of aldehydes to reactive enals to afford either aldol adducts or conjugate adducts in a stereoselective fashion. The unprecedented asymmetric aldol reaction of aldehydes with enals was realized by the use of a diarylprolinol catalyst, giving synthetically useful and important chiral al...

Lithium amidoborane (LiNH(2)BH(3), LiAB for short), is capable of chemoselectively reducing α,β-unsaturated ketones to the corresponding allylic alcohols at ambient temperature. A mechanistic study shows that the reduction is via a double hydrogen transfer process. The protic H(N) and hydridic H(B) in amidoborane add to the O and C sites of the carbonyl group, respectively.

The remarkable effect of an unsupported nanoporous gold catalyst (AuNPore) on chemoselective hydrogenation of α,β-unsaturated aldehydes using silane has been described. Enals can be reduced with excellent selectivity, giving the corresponding allylic alcohols in good to high chemical yields.

Silver-catalyzed carbonphosphonation of α,α-diaryl allylic alcohols is achieved. A series of γ-ketophosphonates with different substituents were readily obtained. The mechanistic study indicated that the reaction was initiated by the addition of P-radicals, which sequentially undergo 1,2-migration of an aryl group to form C(Ar)-C(sp(3)) bonds.

A photocatalytic process for selective arylalkylation of allylic alcohols with α-bromo diethyl malonate has been developed. The reaction provided a straightforward approach to synthesize α-aryl-β-alkylated ketones via unique 1,2-aryl migration. The procedure is highlighted by its operational simplicity and mild reaction conditions.