Selective formation of adjacent stereocenters by allylboration of ketones under mild neutral conditions

Org Lett. 2013 May 17;15(10):2546-9. doi: 10.1021/ol401055m. Epub 2013 Apr 26.

Abstract

Allylboronic acids readily react with a broad variety of ketones, affording homoallylic alcohols with adjacent quaternary and tertiary stereocenters. The reaction proceeds with very high anti stereoselectivity even if the substituents of the keto group have a similar size. α-Keto acids react with syn stereoselectivity probably due to the formation of acyl boronate intermediates. The allylation reactions proceed without added acids/bases under mild conditions. Because of this, many functionalities are tolerated even with in situ generated allylboronic acids.