Desymmetrization of Prochiral Cyclopentenes Enabled by Enantioselective Palladium-Catalyzed Oxidative Heck Reaction

In the presence of a catalytic amount of Pd(TFA)(2) and a chiral Pyox ligand under oxygen atmosphere, oxidative Heck reaction between arylboronic acids and 4-substituted or 4,4-disubstituted cyclopent-1-enes afforded the chiral arylated products with concurrent creation of two stereocenters in good yields with excellent diastereo- and enantioselectivities.