Chiral Cycloalkenes by an Asymmetric Allylic Alkylation-RCM Procedure

Significance

Copper-catalyzed asymmetric allylic alkylation reactions (AAA) allow the addition of hard nucleophiles (e.g., Grignard reagents) to electrophiles with high enantioselectivity. This method is limited to prochiral substrates and the use of chiral cyclic electrophiles is not possible. The authors present a method to overcome this restriction by using AAA of achiral linear substrates, followed by an RCM to furnish the desired cyclic compounds.