Enantiocontrol in some palladium- and copper-catalyzed reactions

This review discusses enantiocontrol in some palladium- and copper-catalyzed reactions and the general theme involves the use of products from palladium-catalyzed 1,4-oxidation of conjugated dienes. In the first part the use of 1,4-diacetoxy-2-alkenes in desymmetrization reactions is described. A combination of enzyme and palladium catalysis leads to a useful enantiocontrol. In the second part 4-amino-2-alkenol derivatives as hey intermediates for the synthesis of 2,5-disubstituted pyrrolidines and pyrrolidine-containing alkaloids are discussed. These amino-alcohol derivatives are available from palladium-catalyzed 1,4-oxidation of conjugated dienes but an alternative procedure for their enantioselective preparation will be presented. Finally, in the third part some recent results in enantioselective copper-catalyzed allylic substitution are presented.