Electrostatic long-range stereocontrol in asymmetric Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling

In this issue of Chem Catalysis, Zhu and co-workers report on the development of asymmetric Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling using ligand-substrate electrostatic attractive interactions as the key strategy of stereocontrol. Using a sterically unbiased meta-carboxylate-substituted RuPhos derivative as the ligand, they achieved high enantioselectivities not only in the coupling of substrates decorated with acidic, deprotonable functionalities at ortho-positions but also for meta-substituted analogs.