Enantioconvergent Negishi Cross-Couplings of Racemic Secondary Organozinc Reagents to Access Privileged Scaffolds: A Combined Experimental and Theoretical Study

Abstract

An enantioconvergent palladium-catalyzed Negishi cross-coupling with racemic secondary organozinc reagents has been developed, enabling access to enantioenriched 1,1-diarylalkane motifs in high yields and enantioselectivities. Computational data indicates that the racemization of organozinc compounds most likely occurs through a bridged bimolecular mechanism.