Enantioenriched methylenecyclopentanes are synthesized by stereospecific, nickel-catalyzed Heck cyclizations of secondary benzylic ethers. The reaction proceeds in high yield and enantiospecificity for benzylic ethers of both π-extended and simple arenes. Ethers with pendant 1,2-disubstituted olefins form trisubstituted olefins with control of both absolute configuration and alkene geometry. Di...

A regioselective Heck reaction of aliphatic olefins and aryl bromides is realized at internal carbons of olefins. Methanol solvent promoted halide ionization from neutral arylpalladium halide complexes via hydrogen bonding, so as to create cationic aryl-Pd species for regioselective olefin insertion.

The reactions of Ar'GaGaAr' (Ar' = C(6)H(3)-2,6-(C(6)H(3)-2,6-(i)Pr(2))(2)) with alkenes revealed the addition of two olefins per Ar'GaGaAr' under ambient conditions for ethylene, propene, 1-hexene and styrene but no reactions with more hindered or cyclic olefins.

A non-heme manganese(II) complex shows a high catalytic activity in the epoxidation of olefins by iodosyl benzene and in the oxidation of olefins, alcohols and alkanes by peracetic acid; a mechanism involving metal-based oxidants is proposed for the oxidation reactions.

The direct aerobic coupling reaction of arenes with olefins was successfully achieved by the use of Pd(OAc)2/molybdovanadophosphoric acid (HPMoV) as a key catalyst under 1 atm of dioxygen. This catalytic system could be extended to the coupling reaction of various substituted benzenes with olefins such as acrylates, aclrolein, and ethylene through the direct aromatic C-H bond activation.

A new metal-free protocol is described for the synthesis of terminal acetals by tandem oxidative rearrangement of olefins using oxone as an oxidant in the presence of iodine. Moreover, a one-pot procedure for the preparation of glycol mono esters from olefins is also presented for the first time using the same reagent system.

We report on the activity of fullerene-supported OsO(4) catalysts in the achiral dihydroxylation of olefins using N-methylmorpholine N-oxide as co-oxidant. The fullerene-supported OsO(4) catalysts can selectively dihydroxylate olefins with conversions up to 95% after 48 h without leaching, and the catalysts can be recovered and recycled several times.

The hydration of terminal olefins to secondary alcohols has been achieved using a Pd(II)/Ru(II) catalyst combination with high regioselectivity and yields. Both vinyl arenes and aliphatic olefins can be hydrated easily with the tandem catalyst system using a low catalyst loading of 1 mol%.

The base-catalyzed hydroamination of olefins offers a simple and elegant access to various primary, secondary, and tertiary amines. Particular focus is placed on developments in the area of hydroamination of non-activated olefins. Advantages and disadvantages of the methodology compared to other synthetic methods are presented. Special attention is paid to potential industrial applications of t...

Palladium catalyzed cross coupling reactions of a vinyl triflate intermediate and various alkenyl stannanes afforded trisubstituted Z-olefins stereoselectively in high yields. These olefins were then converted to the corresponding 9Z-retinoic acids via Horner-Emmons reaction and subsequent basic hydrolysis in excellent yields.