Pybox-calcium catalyst

Table 15 Catalytic 1,4-addition reaction and asymmetric protonation sequence using a chiral Pybox-calcium catalyst...

Kobayashi et al. developed catalytic asymmetric 1,4-additions using chiral calcium species prepared from calcium isopropoxide and chiral bisoxazoline ligands 39, 166 and 168. They found that calcium pyBOX catalysts could effectively mediate catalytic asymmetric additions of 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds 4 to nitroalkenes 86, N-Boc-imines 138 or unsaturated amides 49 giving products 165,167 and 170, respectively. Neutral coordinative ligands worked well in these reactions, giving a noticeably faster rate of reaction... 

Asymmetric catalysis Initial attempts to develop non-racemic catalysts for the enantioselective hydrosilylation of alkenes have not been successful with C2-symmetric (5)-Ph-pybox and p-diketiminate calcium amide complexes catalyzing the addition of phenylsilane to styrene in the absence of solvent at 50 °C in, at best, 9 % e.e [69]. As with intramolecular hydroaminatiOTi catalysis, these results have been explained in terms of the loss of ligand control due to facile ligand redistribution reactions under the catalytic reaction conditions. 

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