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Silaspiranes have attracted particular attention due to their chiral spiro‐silicon center, which serves as an ideal carbon isostere and can endow spiro‐analogs with distinct properties. Distinct from previously reported cyclization or cycloaddition strategies to form 5/5‐silaspiranes, we report herein the asymmetric dual ring expansion of spirosilabicyclobutanes with alkynes to synthesize axially chiral spirosilabicyclohexenes bearing a novel 6/6‐silaspirane framework. DFT (density functional theory) calculations provide the deep insight into the origin of the high enantioselectivity controlled by the sterically demanding binaphthyl phosphoramidite ligand. Preliminary studies of chiroptical properties indicate that one of the spirosilabicyclohexene analogs exhibit fluorescence emission, Cotton effects and CPL (circularly polarized luminescence) activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both aryne 1,4‐disubstitution and 1,2,4‐trifunctionalization were accomplished from tertiary amines bearing a penta‐2,4‐dien‐1‐yl moiety. These transformations could directly incorporate a C−N and a C−C bond para to each other on an aryne intermediate via a sequential nucleophilic addition and [5,5]‐sigmatropic rearrangement. When arynes bearing 3‐tethered electrophiles were employed, a cascade regioselective nucleophilic addition, intramolecular cyclization, and remote diastereoselective [5,5]‐sigmatropic rearrangement process was observed. Our density functional theory (DFT) calculations revealed that hydrogen‐bonding interactions between two C−H hydrogens on the penta‐2,4‐dien‐1‐yl chain and the oxygen anion generated upon N‐nucleophilic annulation reaction in the [5,5]‐sigmatropic rearrangement step is responsible for the remote diastereoselective control in this reaction system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computations and experiments leading to new chiral phosphoric acids (CPAs) for epoxide thionations are reported. Density functional theory calculations reveal the mechanism and origin of the enantioselectivity of such CPA‐catalyzed epoxide thionations. The calculated mechanistic information was used to design new efficient CPAs that were tested experimentally and found to be highly effective. Bulky ortho‐substituents on the 3,3′‐aryl groups of the CPA are important to restrict the position of the epoxide in the key transition states for the enantioselectivity‐determining step. Larger para‐substituents significantly improve the enantioselectivity of the reaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discovery of proper ligands to simultaneously modulate the reactivity and effectively control the stereoselectivity is a central topic in the field of enantioselective C−H activation. Herein, we reported the synthesis of axially chiral biaryls by Pd‐catalyzed atroposelective C−H olefination. A novel chiral spiro phosphoric acid, STRIP, was identified as a superior ligand for this transformation. A broad range of axially chiral quinoline derivatives were synthesized in good yields with excellent enantioselectivities (up to 98 % ee). Density functional theory was used to gain a theoretical understanding of the enantioselectivities in this reaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The enantioselective α-addition of deconjugated butenolides has rarely been exploited, in contrast to the well-studied γ-addition of deconjugated butenolides. In this study, an unprecedented asymmetric α-addition/transesterification of deconjugated butenolides with ortho-quinone methides generated in situ afforded a series of functionalized 3,4-dihydrocoumarins containing two contiguous stereogenic centers with excellent diastereo- and enantioselectivity. DFT calculations suggested that the rarely observed regioselectivity was due to the distortion energy that resulted from the interaction between the nucleophilic dienolate and the electrophilic ortho-quinone methide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]