Chiral phosphinooxazolines as ligands in asymmetric catalysis: Intramolecular Pd-catalyzed allylic alkylation

Palladium complexes with chiral phosphinooxazoline ligands were studied as catalysts for the enantio-selective intramolecular alkylation of (Z)-methyl 8-acetoxy-3-oxo-6-octenoate (1) and (E)- and (Z)-methyl 2-methoxycarbonyl--8-methoxycarbonyloxy-6-octenoate (2, 3). The best results were obtained with 2 and 3 which cyclized to the corresponding cyclopentane derivative with 60% yield and up to 87% ee under optimized conditions. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd