Enantioselective addition of terminal alkynes to aldehydes catalyzed by a Cu(I)-TRAP complex

Org Lett. 2007 Sep 27;9(20):3901-4. doi: 10.1021/ol701534n. Epub 2007 Aug 25.

Abstract

The addition of terminal alkynes to aromatic aldehydes was carried out under mild conditions in the presence of a Cu-phosphine complex, which was prepared in situ from Cu(O-t-Bu) and TRAP chiral bisphosphine, to yield enantiomerically enriched propargyl alcohols with moderate enantioselectivities. Furthermore, according to stoichiometric reactions, the reaction presumably involves the addition of a TRAP-coordinated Cu(I) acetylide to an aldehyde.