Nickel-Catalyzed Asymmetric Reductive Arylbenzylation of Unactivated Alkenes

Abstract

Herein, we report a nickel-catalyzed asymmetric two-component reductive dicarbofunctionalization of aryl iodide-tethered unactivated alkenes using benzyl chlorides as the challenging coupling partner. This arylbenzylation reaction enables the efficient synthesis of diverse benzene-fused cyclic compounds bearing a quaternary stereocenter with a high tolerance of sensitive functionalities in highly enantioselective manner. The preliminary mechanistic investigations suggest a radical chain reaction mechanism.