Pt-catalyzed enantioselective diboration of terminal alkenes with B2(pin)2.

The Pt-catalyzed enantioselective addition of bis(pinacolato)diboron to simple monosubstituted alkenes is described. This reaction occurs in the presence of a readily available chiral phosphonite ligand and is effective with a variety of terminal alkene substrates. Importantly, the reaction can operate with catalyst loadings of only 1 mol % Pt. While oxidation of the intermediate 1,2-bis(boronate) ester provides the chiral 1,2-diol as the reaction product, the intermediate may also be subjected to homologation/oxidation to furnish a chiral 1,4-diol as the reaction product.