Copper-Catalyzed Enantioselective Synthesis of α-Hydroxyamine Using Monodentate Phosphoramidites

Development of new methods for the introduction of a nitrogen atom to a carbonyl group is still the most important synthetic target. Cu-catalyzed addition of organozinc reagents to α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds has been the subject of intensive investigation.[1] Moreover, trapping of the intermediate Zn-enolates has been achieved using nitrosobenzene. To demonstrate the feasibility of developing enantioselective variants of these tandem C-C bond formations,α,β-unsaturated substrates a～d was subjected to standard reaction conditions using Feringa's (L1*, L2*) and our own phosphoramidite ligands (L3*, L4*). In this reaction, medium to high levels of enantioselectivities were observed.