Hydroboration acyclic stereocontrol

It would be difficult to overestimate the role that the polyether antibiotics have played in the development of organic synthesis, particularly in the area of acyclic stereocontrol. These molecules have inspired many spectacular achievements in organic synthesis, achievements that have dramatically expanded the power and scope of the science. In fact, it would not be inaccurate to attribute much of our understanding about the factors controlling acyclic stereoselectivity for such fundamental processes as hydroboration,5 epox-... 

Brown s discovery of the hydroboration reaction in the 1950s opened new avenues for the selective functionalization of olefins. The recognition that acyclic olefins can have well-defined conformational biases allowed the development of diastereoselective, substrate-controlled processes and the advent of the principles of acyclic stereocontrol. Given the central role the hydroboration of olefins has played, it is hardly surprising that the earliest examples in this field involve such transformations. For the organic chemist, diastereoselective and enantioselective hydrometalation reactions have rapidly become an indispensable tool equally useful in simple olefin functionalizations and in the stereoselective construction of highly complex molecules. 

Blackburn, B. K., Sharpless, K. B. Rhodium(l) catalyzed hydroboration of olefins. The documentation of regio- and stereocontrol in cyclic and acyclic systems. Chemtracts Org. Chem. 1989, 2, 33-35. 

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