Myrtenal, hydrovinylation

This Mulheim chemistry has been highlighted by the discovery of the highly enantioselective hydrovinylation of styrene to produce chiral 2-phenyl-1-butene in 95.2% ee for a 10 kg-scale reaction (Scheme 60) (132). The Ni catalyst is very reactive and contains the unique chiral dimeric aminophosphine ligand derived from (R)-myrtenal and (S)-1-phenylethylamine. Computer simulations suggest that in this chiral Ni complex, the phenyl substituent of the chiral phenylethyl group acts as a windshield wiper across the catalytically active metal center. This... 

Scheme 7 displays a possibility of the synthesis of chiral 2-arylpropionic acids via the oxidative tranformation of (7 )-3-aryl-l-butenes. The requisite chiral olefins may be obtained by transition metal-catalyzed asymmetric coupling between a benzylic Grignard reagent and vinyl bromide (93 % optical yield) [28] or, more attractively, asymmetric hydrovinylation of an aromatic olefin with ethylene. The asymmetric combination of styrene and ethylene, giving the adduct 25 in 95 % ee, has been performed on a 10-kg scale with a dinuclear Ni catalyst formed from ( -allyl)NiCl2 and a unique chiral dimeric aminophosphine obtainable from (/ )-myrtenal and (5)-l-phenylethylamine [7a],... 

The dimeric azaphospholines derived from (/ )-myrtenal and (J )-l-phenylethylamine are also active ligands in the nickel catalyzed hydrovinylation of cyclopentadiene with ethylene to give exclusively 3-vinylcyclopentene (7) with 100% chemo- and regioselectivity and up to 76% ee5 (according to recent reports even higher inductions are obtainable53). No isomerization and dimerization of the products is observed. Previously, with other catalytic systems the same... 

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