Direct catalysis alkyne/alkene additions

Metal complex chemistry, homogeneous catalysis and phosphane chemistry have always been strongly connected, since phosphanes constitute one of the most important families of ligands. The catalytic addition of P(III)-H or P(IV)-H to unsaturated compounds (alkene, alkyne) offers an access to new phosphines with a good control of the regio- and stereoselectivity [98]. Hydrophosphination of terminal nonfunctional alkynes has already been reported with lanthanides [99, 100], or palladium and nickel catalysts [101]. Ruthenium catalysts have made possible the hydrophosphination of functional alkynes, thereby opening the way to the direct synthesis of bidentate ligands (Scheme 8.35) [102]. 

Anti-Markovnikov addition of H2O to olefins is of enormous importance in view of the production of linear alcohols directly from alkenes. It is a general phenomenon, however, that reaction of water with olefins and alkynes, as in the previous example, gives products of Markovnikov addition. The first anti-Markovnikov hydration of terminal alkynes (Scheme 42) with transition metal catalysis was reported in 1998 (227). A series of aliphatic and aromatic alkynes... 

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