Disparate roles of chiral ligands and molecularly imprinted cavities in asymmetric catalysis and chiral poisoning

The activation of molecularly imprinted metal complexes generates Lewis acid catalysts for the ene reaction, each of which contains a chiral diphosphine ligand and a chiral BINOL-shaped cavity. Poisoning experiments with (R)- and (S)-BINAM indicate that while the chiral cavity can differentiate the chiral poisons, it is the chiral diphosphine ligand which controls the enantioselectivity of the ene product.