Catalytic asymmetric addition reactions of Cu(I)-conjugated soft carbon nucleophiles

Abstract

Copper is a ubiquitous element on the earth. Copper catalysts promote a wide variety of reaction types by acting as a Lewis acid, a π acid, a Brønsted base, or an electron mediator. These features make copper catalysts particularly attractive in modern organic chemistry. In this review, we discuss examples of recent copper (I)-catalyzed asymmetric C–C bond-forming reactions via the addition of soft copper(I)-conjugated carbon nucleophiles to carbonyl electrophiles. Specifically, we focus on the unique orthogonal reactivity of soft copper(I)-conjugated carbon nucleophiles to hard protic functional groups, which would allow for protecting group-minimized molecular synthesis.