Copper-Catalyzed Enantioselective Hydrophosphorylation of Unactivated Alkynes.

Abstract

P-stereogenic phosphorus compounds are essential across various fields, yet their synthesis via enantioselective P-C bond formation remains both challenging and underdeveloped. We report the first copper-catalyzed enantioselective hydrophosphorylation of alkynes, facilitated by a newly designed chiral 1,2-diamine ligand. Unlike previous methods that rely on kinetic resolution with less than 50% conversion, our approach employs a distinct dynamic kinetic asymmetric transformationmechanism, achieving complete conversion of racemic starting materials. This reaction is compatible with a broad range of aromatic and aliphatic terminal alkynes, producing products with high yields (up to 95%), exclusive cis selectivity, and exceptional regio- and enantioselectivity (> 20:1 r.r. and up to 96% ee). The resulting products were further transformed into a diverse array of enantioenriched P-stereogenic scaffolds. Preliminary mechanistic studies were conducted to elucidate the reaction details.