Thioketone-directed rhodium(I) catalyzed enantioselective C-H bond arylation of ferrocenes

Planar chiral ferrocenes have received great attention in both academia and industry. Although remarkable progresses have been made over the past decade, the development of efficient and straightforward methods for the synthesis of enantiopure planar chiral ferrocenes remains highly challenging. Herein, we report a rhodium(I)/phosphonite catalyzed thioketone-directed enantioselective C-H bond arylation of ferrocenes. Readily available aryl iodides are used as the coupling partners in this transformation, leading to a series of planar chiral ferrocenes in good yields and excellent enantioselectivities (up to 86% yield, 99% ee). Of particular note, heteroaryl coupled ferrocenes, which are difficult to access with previous approaches, can be obtained in satisfactory results.