Copper-Catalyzed Enantioselective Conjugate Addition to α,β-Unsaturated Aldehydes with Various Organometallic Reagents

beta-Substituted aldehydes constitute a very important class of compounds found in nature. Synthesis of this motif can be envisioned by C-C bond formation on enals. For this purpose, we report herein the development of enantioselective copper-catalyzed conjugate addition of various organometallic reagents to alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes with (R)-H(8)BINAP, (R)-TolBINAP, and (R)-SEGPHOS as chiral ligands. Three sets of conditions were successfully developed and several enals were used. Reactivity and regio- and enantioselectivities were strongly dependent on reaction conditions and substrates. Good to excellent regio- and enantioselectivities were obtained with zinc reagents R2Zn and aluminum reagents R3Al. However, the asymmetric conjugate addition of Grignard reagents afforded only moderate to good regio- and enantioselectivities.