A broadly applicable NHC-Cu-catalyzed approach for efficient, site, and enantioselective coupling of readily accessible (pinacolato)alkenylboron compounds to allylic phosphates and applications to natural product synthesis

The article describes an approach for catalytic enantioselective allylic substitution (EAS) reactions that allow for additions of alkenyl units to readily accessible allylic electrophiles. 1,4-dienes that contain a tertiary carbon stereogenic site are obtained from this reaction catalyzed by copper complex of an N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC); furthermore the efficiency of this approach is shown by enantioselective synthesis of natural products such as santolina alcohol, semburin, nyasol, heliespirone A, and heliannuol E.