The Copper-Catalyzed Asymmetric Allylic Substitution

Abstract

This mini-review discusses the rapidly growing field of asymmetric copper-catalyzed chemistry. Although the allylic substitution has been less studied than the conjugate addition, recent breakthroughs have made this methodology a very valuable synthetic tool. Thus, a primary allylic halide or phosphate reacts with Grignard or diorganozinc reagents to afford the SN' product (or ?-product) in high regio- and enantioselectivities. Besides the results of the authors, we present also other, different approaches to this reaction, with emphasis on the organo-metallic and the type of chiral ligand used.