RECENT ADVANCES IN THE BORON ROUTE TO ASYMMETRIC-SYNTHESIS

Chiral organoboranes, readily available via asymmetric hydroboration or the Matteson asymmetric homologation reaction, have been successfully utilized for a general asymmetric synthesis of pure enantiomers. The recent continued successes achieved in our three-pronged approach to asymmetric synthesis - (1) asymmetric hydroboration, (2) asymmetric reduction, and (3) asymmetric allyl- and crotylboration, coupled with developments in asymmetric homologation, reveal the broad scope of these methodologies for the synthesis of stereoisomers in purities approaching 100 % ee.