Recent developments in the synthesis and utilization of chiral β-aminophosphine derivatives as catalysts or ligands.

In the last few years, the research area of chiral β-aminophosphines capable of promoting a wide range of diverse organic transformations has attracted more attention. Their derivatives constitute attractive reagents towards this end, due to their stability, low toxicity and ease of handling. These novel β-aminophosphine derivatives are potentially useful as organocatalysts and ligands in metal-catalysed reactions. In particular, chiral β-aminophosphines have recently emerged as powerful phosphine catalysts in asymmetric synthesis and catalysis. The asymmetric transformations to which metal complexes of these ligands have been applied include palladium-catalysed allylic substitutions and copper-catalysed 1,4-additions to enones among others. This review summarizes the most significant developments in the area of synthesis and application of chiral β-aminophosphine derivatives, providing a detailed overview of the current state of the art and including future aspects.