Asymmetric carbonyl-ene and Friedel-Crafts reactions catalysed by Lewis acid platinum group metal complexes of the enantiopure atropisomeric biaryl-like diphosphine (S)-Me2-CATPHOS: a comparison with BINAP

Lewis acid platinum and palladium complexes of (S)-Me-2-CATPHOS catalyse the carbonyl-ene reaction between allylbenzene derivatives and ethyl trifluoropyruvate to give the expected alpha-hydroxy esters with ee's up to 97%, while the corresponding reaction involving 2-allylfuran and thiophene was exclusively selective for Friedel-Crafts-type reactivity and gave the corresponding 2-hydroxy-trifluoromethyl ethyl esters in good yield and moderate to good enantioselectivity. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.