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A simple, efficient catalytic asymmetric Michael addition of malonates to unsaturated ketones has been successfully developed. This process was promoted by rare earth metal complexes 1–4 bearing a chiral phenoxy functionalized prolinol ligand at room temperature [L1RE(L1H) (H2L1 = (S)-2,4-di-tert-butyl-6-((2-(hydroxydiphenylmethyl)pyrrolidin-1-yl)methyl)phenol, RE = Yb 1, Y 2, Sc 3 and L2Sc(L2H) 4 (H2L2 = (S)-2,4-di-dimethylbenzyl-6-((2-(hydroxydiphenylmethyl)-pyrrolidin-1-yl)methyl)phenol)]. Complex 3 was the best catalyst in the transformation and the products were obtained in up to 99% yield and with 90% ee. In addition, the molecular structures of the catalysts were well characterized, including X-ray determination of complex 3.

A series of ytterbium guanidinato complexes stabilized by an amine-bridged bis(phenolate) ligand were prepared, and their catalytic property for the hydrophosphonylation reaction of aldehydes was explored. Metathesis reactions of amine-bridged bis(phenolate) ytterbium chlorides LYbCl(THF) [L = Me 2 NCH 2 CH 2 N{CH 2 -(2-OC 6 H 2 t Bu 2 -3,5)} 2 ] with corresponding lithium guanidinates in a 1:1 molar ratio in THF gave the expected ytterbium guanidinato complexes LYb[R 2 NC(NR 1 ) 2 ] [R 1 = Cy, R 2 N = N(TMS) 2 ( 1 ), N(CH 2 ) 5 ( 2 ); R 1 = i Pr, R 2 N = N(TMS) 2 ( 3 ), NPh 2 ( 4 )]. These ytterbium complexes were well characterized by elemental analyses, IR spectroscopy and single-crystal X-ray structure determination. The metal ion is six-coordinated by two oxygen and two nitrogen atoms from the bis(phenolate) ligand, and two nitrogen atoms from one guanidinato group. The coordination geometry around ytterbium can be described as a distorted octahedron. It was found that these ytterbium guanidinato complexes are highly efficient catalysts for the hydrophosphonylation reaction of various aldehydes under mild conditions.

Four novel heterobimetallic complexes [REL2]{[(THF)3Li]2(μ-Cl)} stabilized by chiral phenoxy-functionalized prolinolate (RE = Yb (1), Y (2), Sm (3), Nd (4), H2L = (S)-2,4-di-tert-butyl-6-[[2-(hydroxydiphenylmethyl)pyrrolidin-1-yl]methyl]phenol have been synthesized and characterized. These readily available complexes are highly active in catalyzing the epoxidation of α,β-unsaturated ketones, while the enantioselectivity varies according to the ionic radii of the rare earth center. A series of chalcone derivatives were converted to chiral epoxides in 80 → 99% ee at 0 °C using TBHP as the oxidant in the presence of 10 mol % of 1.

Ytterbium guanidinates are shown to be highly efficient catalysts for the hydrophosphonylation of various aldehydes (16 examples) under mild conditions.