Enantioselective Intermolecular Pd-Catalyzed Hydroalkylation of Acyclic 1,3-Dienes with Activated Pronucleophiles

We report a highly enantioselective Pd-PHOX-catalyzed intermolecular hydroalkylation of acyclic 1,3-dienes. Meldrum's acid derivatives and other activated C-pronucleophiles, such as beta-diketones and malononitriles, react with a variety of aryl- and alkyl-substituted dienes in <= 20 h at room temperature. The coupled products, obtained in up to 96% yield and 97.5:2.5 er, are easily transformed into useful chemical building blocks for downstream synthesis.