ORGANIC
LETTERS
2006
Vol. 8, No. 3
363-366
Rhodium-Catalyzed Asymmetric
Conjugate Additions of Boronic Acids to
Enones Using DIPHONANE: A Novel
Chiral Bisphosphine Ligand
Koen Vandyck, Bavo Matthys, Mario Willen, Koen Robeyns,†
Luc Van Meervelt,† and Johan Van der Eycken*
Laboratory for Organic and Bioorganic Synthesis, Department of Organic Chemistry,
Ghent UniVersity, Krijgslaan 281 (S.4), B-9000 Gent, Belgium
Received September 20, 2005 (Revised Manuscript Received December 6, 2005)
ABSTRACT
The synthesis of a novel enantiopure C2-symmetric bisphosphine, DIPHONANE, was accomplished starting from 2,5-norbornadione, utilizing
(R,R)- and/or (S,S)-(2,3-O-di[(phenylamino)carbonyl]tartaric acid for the resolution of an intermediate phosphineoxide. The application of this
ligand in the rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric conjugate addition of boronic acids to cyclic enones provides the 1,4-addition products in good
yields (69−98%) and high ee’s (78−95% ee). A byproduct arising from a consecutive 1,4-addition and 1,2-addition was also observed.
The 1,4-addition of aryl or alkenyl groups to electron-
deficient double bonds constitutes an interesting approach
for C-C bond formation.1 Therefore, the asymmetric
rhodium-catalyzed 1,4-addition to R,â-unsaturated enones has
recently received a lot of attention applying various ligands
such as biaryl bisphosphines,2 phosphoramidites,3a,b BINOL-
based diphosphonites,3c amidomonophosphines,3d N-hetero-
cyclic carbenes,3e ferrocenyl-based bisphosphines,2c a P-chiral
phosphine,3f and dienes.3g-k Some other bisphosphine ligands,
although efficient in the Rh(I)-catalyzed hydrogenation, fail
(3) (a) Boiteau, J.-G. Minnaard, A. J, Feringa, B. L. J. Org. Chem. 2003,
68, 9481-9484. (b) Iguchi, Y.; Itooka, R.; Miyaura, N. Synlett 2003, 1040-
1042. (c) Reetz, M. T.; Moulin, D.; Gosberg, A. Org. Lett. 2001, 3, 4083-
4085. (d) Kuriyama, M.; Nagai, K.; Yamada, K.-I.; Miwa, Y.; Taga, T.;
Tomioka, K. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2002, 124, 8932-8939. (e) Ma, Y.; Song,
S.; Ma, C.; Sun, Z.; Chai, Q.; Andrus, M. B. Angew Chem., Int. Ed. 2003,
42, 5871-5874. (f) Imamoto, T.; Sugita, K.; Yoshida, K. J. Am. Chem.
Soc. 2005, 127, 11934-11935. (g) Defieber, C.; Paquin, J.-F.; Serna, S.;
Carreira, E. M. Org. Lett. 2004, 6, 3873-3876. (h) Hayashi, T.; Ueyama,
K.; Tokunaga, N.; Yoshida, K. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2003, 125, 11508-11509.
(i) Otomaru, Y.; Kina, A.; Shintani, R.; Hayashi, T. Tetrahedron: Asym-
metry 2005, 16, 1673-1679. (j) Otomaru, Y.; Okamoto, K.; Shintani, R.;
Hayashi, T. J. Org. Chem. 2005, 70, 2503-2508. (k) Lang, F.; Breher, F.;
Stein, D.; Gru¨tzmacher, H. Organometallics 2005, 24, 2997-3007. For some
recent results on 1,4-additions to other R,â-unsaturated systems, see: (l)
Paquin, J. F.; Defieber, C.; Stephenson, C. R. J.; Carreira, E. M. J. Am.
Chem. Soc. 2005, 127, 10850-10851 for enals. (m) Paquin, J. F.;
Stephenson, C. R. J.; Defieber, C.; Carreira, E. M. Org. Lett. 2005, 7, 3821-
3824 for acrylic esters. (n) Shintani, R.; Duan, W. L.; Nagano, T.; Okada,
A.; Hayashi, T. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2005, 44, 4611-4614 for
maleimides. (o) Shintani, R.; Kimura, T.; Hayashi, T. Chem. Commun. 2005,
25, 3213-3214 for Weinreb amides. (p) Jagt, R. B. C.; de Vries, J. G.;
Feringa, B. L.; Minnaard, A. J. Org. Lett. 2005, 7, 2433-2435 for 2,3-
dihydro-4-pyridones. (q) Chen, G.; Tokunaga, N.; Hayashi, T. Org. Lett.
2005, 7, 2285-2288 and references therein for coumarins.
† Biomolecular Architecture, Department of Chemistry, K. U. Leuven,
Celestijnenlaan 200F, B-3001 Leuven (Heverlee), Belgium.
(1) For a review on rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric 1,4-addition and C-C
bond formation, respectively, see: (a) Hayashi, T.; Yamasaki, K. Chem.
ReV. 2003, 103, 2829-2844. (b) Fagnou, K.; Lautens, M. Chem. ReV. 2003,
103, 169-196.
(2) (a) Takaya, Y.; Ogasawara, M.; Hayashi, T.; Sakai, M.; Miyaura, N.
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1998, 120, 5579-5580. (b) Amengual, R.; Michelet,
V.; Geneˆt, J.-P. Synlett 2002, 1791-1794. (c) Pucheault, M.; Darses, S.;
Geneˆt, J.-P. Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2002, 3552-3557. (d) Shi, Q.; Xu, L.; Li,
X.; Jia, X.; Wang, R.; Au-Yeung, T. T.-L.; Chan, A. S. C.; Hayashi, T.;
Cao, R.; Hong, M. Tetrahedron Lett. 2003, 44, 6505-6508. (e) Madec, J.;
Michaud, G.; Geneˆt, J.-P.; Marinetti, A. Tetrahedron: Asymmetry 2004,
15, 2253-2261. (f) Yuan, W.-Y.; Cun, L.-F.; Gong, L.-Z. Mi, A.-Q.; Jiang,
Y.-Z. Tetrahedron Lett. 2005, 46, 509-512. (g) Ogasawara, M.; Ngo, H.
L.; Sakamoto, T.; Takahashi, T.; Lin, W. Org. Lett. 2005, 7, 2881-2884.
10.1021/ol0522788 CCC: $33.50
© 2006 American Chemical Society
Published on Web 12/31/2005