Cobalt-Catalyzed E-Selective Isomerization of Alkenes with a Phosphine-Amido-Oxazoline Ligand

An efficient method to access (E)-trisubstituted alkenes is reported via cobalt-catalyzed isomerization of 1,1-disubstituted alkenes using a phosphine-amido-oxazoline ligand. The reaction could also convert mono- and 1,2-disubstituted alkenes to (E)-internal alkenes with benzylic selectivity. This protocol is atom-economy and operationally simple and uses readily available starting materials with good functional tolerance. This catalytic system could be scaled up to gram scale smoothly with a catalyst loading of 0.1 mol %.