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Asymmetric hydroformylation of 1,2-dialkyl olefins was reported. In order to increase the enantiomeric induction, steric auxiliary sulfonyl groups were introduced. Using a Rh/Yanphos complex as catalyst, chiral aldehydes were obtained with high enantioselectivities under mild pressure. The easily removable auxiliary made this method a powerful tool in the preparation of important enantiopure building blocks.

Rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric anti-Markovnikov hydroformylation of α-substituted acrylates/acrylamides has been developed. By employing the Rh/(S,S)-DTBM-YanPhos complex, a series of β-chiral linear aldehydes were obtained in high yields (up to 94% yield) and high enantioselectivities (up to 96% ee). The utility of this methodology is demonstrated by a gram-scale reaction and a concise synthetic route to chiral γ-butyrolactone.

The nickel-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of β-(acylamino)acrylates has been developed, affording chiral β-amino acid derivatives with excellent yields (95–99% yield) and enantioselectivities (97–99% ee). With the Ni–Binapine system, high enantioselectivities (98–99% ee) have also been obtained in the hydrogenation of Z/E isomeric mixtures of β-alkyl and β-aryl β-(acylamino)acrylates. The synthesis of chiral β-amino acid derivatives on a gram scale has also been achieved with 0.2 mol % catalyst loading.