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Updated: Aug 16, 2026

A Microwave-Assisted Direct Heteroarylation of Ketones Using Transition Metal Catalysis
Published on: February 16, 2020
Enantioselective nucleophilic catalysis with "Planar-Chiral" heterocycles
1Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
Abstract:
Although Lewis bases (e.g., tertiary phosphines, tertiary amines, and pyridines) serve as nucleophilic catalysts for a wide array of reactions, there have been relatively few reports of enantioselective nucleophilic catalysts. In this Account, we describe the design and synthesis of a new family of chiral nucleophilic catalysts, specifically, planar-chiral heterocycles. These complexes provide good levels of enantiomeric excess in the addition of alcohols to ketenes, the rearrangement of O-acylated azlactones, and the kinetic resolution of secondary alcohols.
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