Enantioselective C(sp<sup>3</sup>)‒H bond activation by chiral transition metal catalysts.

Saint-Denis, Tyler G; Zhu, Ru-Yi; Chen, Gang; Wu, Qing-Feng; Yu, Jin-Quan · Science · 2018

review · Level V

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Abstract

Organic molecules are rich in carbon-hydrogen bonds; consequently, the transformation of C-H bonds to new functionalities (such as C-C, C-N, and C-O bonds) has garnered much attention by the synthetic chemistry community. The utility of C-H activation in organic synthesis, however, cannot be fully realized until chemists achieve stereocontrol in the modification of C-H bonds. This Review highlights recent efforts to enantioselectively functionalize C(sp<sup>3</sup>)-H bonds via transition metal catalysis, with an emphasis on key principles for both the development of chiral ligand scaffolds that can accelerate metalation of C(sp<sup>3</sup>)-H bonds and stereomodels for asymmetric metalation of prochiral C-H bonds by these catalysts.