Efficient and Enantioselective Rhodium(I)‐Catalyzed Arylation of α‐Ketoesters: Synthesis of (<i>S</i>)‐Flutriafol

Abstract

Abstract An enantioselective addition of arylboronic acids and α‐ketoesters promoted by a Rhodium(I)‐chiral diene catalyst is reported. The transformation proceeds regioselectively in the presence of as low as 0.5 mol% of the catalyst generated in situ from a Rhodium(I) salt and diene L1 , which is a bicyclo[2.2.1] ligand scaffold bearing 2,5 dinaphthyl substituents, to afford tertiary chiral α‐hydroxy esters with high stereoselectivities (90–99% ee's) and in 50–&gt;99% yields. The method provides an expeditious and enantioselective synthesis of ( S )‐flutriafol. magnified image