Highly Enantioselective Formation of α-Allyl-α-Arylcyclopentanones via Pd-Catalysed Decarboxylative Asymmetric Allylic Alkylation.

A highly enantioselective Pd-catalysed decarboxylative asymmetric allylic alkylation of cyclopentanone derived α-aryl-β-keto esters employing the (R,R)-ANDEN-phenyl Trost ligand has been developed. The product (S)-α-allyl-α-arylcyclopentanones were obtained in excellent yields and enantioselectivities (up to >99.9 % ee). This represents one of the most highly enantioselective formations of an all-carbon quaternary stereogenic center reported to date. This reaction was demonstrated on a 4.0 mmol scale without any deterioration of enantioselectivity and was exploited as the key enantioselective transformation in an asymmetric formal synthesis of the natural product (+)-tanikolide.