Direct use of chiral or achiral organophosphorus boranes as pro-ligands for transition metal catalyzed reactions

Chiral or achiral organophosphorus borane complexes were used without isolation of the free tricoordinate P(III) ligand; thus, the borane adducts could be used either directly with metal salts to perform the catalysis, or they could be decomplexed by DABCO, or cyclooctadiene, and used in situ to generate the catalytic species. Chiral copper, palladium and rhodium complexes prepared using this method, were tested in asymmetric organometallic catalyzed 1,4-addition to 2-cyclohexenone, allylation of Schiff base and hydrogenation of alpha -acetamidocinnamic acid derivatives, respectively. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.