Bifunctional Ion Pair Catalysts from Chiral α-Amino Acids

Asymmetric ion pair catalysis presents a powerful strategy for the construction of chiral molecules. However, the ion-pair interactions are weakly directional and result in difficultly controlling the conformational constraint for high stereo- inductions. Based on the hydrogen bonding interactions, we have successfully designed and synthesized a new family of bifunctional ion pair catalysts derived from chiral amino acids via simple operations. With these chiral ammonium salts and phosphonium salts in hand, the enantioselective construction of C-C and C-X bonds was realized in our lab.