The asymmetric Rh‐catalyzed hydrocarboxylation of α,β‐unsaturated carbonyl compounds was originally developed by Mikami and co‐workers but gives only moderate enantiomeric excesses. In order to understand the factors controlling the enantioselectivity and to propose novel ligands for this reaction, we have used computational and experimental methods to study the Rh‐catalyzed hydrocarboxylation with ...

CO₂ is a promising and sustainable carbon feedstock for organic synthesis. New catalytic protocols for efficient incorporation of CO₂into organic molecules are continuously being reported. However, little progress has been made in the enantioselective conversion of CO₂to form enantioenriched molecules. In order to allow CO₂to become a versatile carbon ...

The mechanism of rhodium-COD-catalyzed hydrocarboxylation of styrene derivatives and α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds with CO₂ has been investigated using density functional theory (PBE-D2/IEFPCM). The calculations support a catalytic cycle as originally proposed by Mikami and co-workers including β-hydride elimination, insertion of the unsaturated substrate into a rhodium–hydride bond, ...

As pioneered by Corey and Chaykovsky, sulfoxonium ylides have had widespread application in organic synthesis for more than a half century. In most of the reactions, sulfoxonium ylides were used to react with electrophiles. Under suitable reaction conditions these ylides can generate metal carbenoids and react with nucleophiles. By combining the typical reactivity of sulfoxonium ylides with ...

Sulfoxonium ylides have recently gained prominence as safe carbenoid precursors in metal-catalyzed reactions. The stability and reactivity of sulfoxonium ylides depend on the substitution of the ylide carbon. The reactivity of vinyl-substituted sulfoxonium ylides is different and offers several advantages over known stabilized sulfoxonium ylides in the case of carbenoid transfer reactions. Herein, ...