Rhodium‐Catalyzed Enantioselective Radical Addition of CX4 Reagents to Olefins

Abstract

AbstractWe describe the synthetically useful enantioselective addition of Br−CX3 (X=Cl or Br) to terminal olefins to introduce a trihalomethyl group and generate optically active secondary bromides. Computational and experimental evidence supports an asymmetric atom‐transfer radical addition (ATRA) mechanism in which the stereodetermining step involves outer‐sphere bromine abstraction from a [(bisphosphine)RhIIBrCl] complex by a benzylic radical intermediate. This mechanism appears unprecedented in asymmetric catalysis.