Allenylic Carbonates in Enantioselective Iridium-Catalyzed Alkylations

An enantioconvergent C­(sp³)–C­(sp³) coupling between racemic allenylic electrophiles and alkylzinc reagents has been developed. An Ir/(phosphoramidite,olefin) catalyst provides access to highly enantioenriched allenylic substitution products (93–99% ee) with complete regiocontrol (>50:1 rr in all cases) over the corresponding 1,3-diene isomers which are obtained predominantly when other metal catalysts are emplyed. The synthetic utility of the products obtained was highlighted in a variety of stereoselective transition metal-catalyzed difunctionalization reactions. Furthermore, a combination of experimental and theoretical studies provide support for a putative reaction mechanism wherein enantiodetermining C–C coupling occurs via nucleophilic attack on a highly planarized aryl butadienylium π-system that is coordinated to the Ir center in an η²-fashion