Catalysis of enantioselective [2+1]-cycloaddition reactions of ethyl diazoacetate and terminal acetylenes using mixed-ligand complexes of the series Rh2(RCO2)n(L*4-n). Stereochemical heuristics for ligand exchange and catalyst synthesis.

This paper describes the synthesis of mixed Rh(2)(II) complexes containing bridging acetate and R,R-diphenyl-N-triflylimidazolidinone (DPTI) ligands (1, 2, and 9-19), and their function as enantioselective catalysts for the conversion of ethyl diazoacetate and terminal acetylenes to chiral cyclopropenes. Of these catalysts, 1 and 10 functioned with the highest enantioselectivity, in accord with a mechanistic model in which one of the ligand bridges is broken in the intermediate Rh-carbene complex. The synthetic results allow conclusions with regard to kinetically and thermodynamically favored pathways for the synthesis of mixed acetate-DPTI complexes. A new C(2)-symmetric complex having only two anti-DTBTI bridges (23) is shown to be a highly effective chiral catalyst, as expected from the model.