1,4-Addition of aryl boronic acids to α,β-unsaturated ketones catalyzed by a CCC–NHC pincer rhodium complex

Development of Methods to the Synthesis of β-Boryl Acyls, Imines and Nitriles

Organoboron compounds are highly important and versatile synthetic intermediates for the preparation of a wide range of organic molecules. Organoboron compounds have drawn significant attention among organic chemists due to their Lewis acidic property, non-toxicity, and commercial availability. Over the last several decades, there has been a substantial development of new organoboron compounds, useful in organic synthesis. Among all other organoboron compounds, β-boryl carbonyl compounds are the important ones. The β-boryl compounds have appeared as promising intermediates for various synthetic transformations. The 1,4-conjugate addition of diboron reagents to carbon-carbon double bond in the presence of different transition-metal catalysts has been extensively reported by various research groups across the globe. This mini-review outlines the numerous racemic as well as asymmetric β-borylation methods developed to date.

Dirhodium(ii)/P(t-Bu)3 catalyzed tandem reaction of α,β-unsaturated aldehydes with arylboronic acids

Phosphine ligated dirhodium(ii) acetate is advocated as a catalyst for the synthesis of aryl alkyl ketones by the tandem reaction of α,β-unsaturated aromatic or aliphatic aldehydes with arylboronic acids. This tandem procedure included arylation followed by the isomerization reaction. This method exhibits good functional group tolerance and has a broad substrate scope. With the conjugated aldehydes, the one-step synthesis of γ,δ-unsaturated ketones was realized through this reaction. It is noteworthy that the length of the Rh-P bond is an important factor affecting catalytic reactions. The comparative analysis of the crystal structures of axially alkylphosphane and arylphosphane ligated dirhodium(ii) acetate revealed that the shorter Rh-P bond length favors the isomerization process as compared to the longer one. In addition, the dirhodium(ii) compound can be recovered after the completion of the reaction.