A Thiourea-Oxazoline Library with Axial Chirality: Ligand Synthesis and Studies of the Palladium-Catalyzed Enantioselective Bis(methoxycarbonylation) of Terminal Olefins

We report herein the synthesis of novel chiral S,N-heterobidentate thiourea-oxazoline ligands and their application to palladium-catalyzed enantioselective bis(methoxycarbonylation)s of terminal olefins under mild conditions. Copper salts were found to play multiple roles in this reaction. Substituted 2-phenylsuccinates were obtained in >90% yield and up to 84% cc under optimized conditions.