Aminophosphine–oxazoline and phosphoramidite–oxazoline ligands and their application in asymmetric catalysis

The synthesis of a novel series of aminophosphine–oxazoline and phosphoramidite–oxazoline is described. The efficacy of these aminophosphine–oxazoline ligands was investigated in the palladium catalysed asymmetric allylic alkylation of 1,3-diphenylprop-2-enyl acetate leading to a maximum of 38% ee at 64% conversion. Phosphoramidite–oxazoline ligands, however, gave ees of up to 87% at 71% conversion in the same reaction and also proved to be effective in the palladium catalysed asymmetric Suzuki coupling between 2-methylnaphthylboronic acid and 1-bromonaphthalene, leading to a maximum of 46% ee in 54% isolated yield at room temperature.