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Five- and six-membered ring lactones and lactams are ubiquitous frameworks in various natural and synthetic molecules and are key building blocks in organic synthesis. Catalytic addition of an O-H or N-H bond across an unactivated C–C double bond is an appealing approach to rapidly access such highly valuable N- and O-containing skeletons in a waste-free and 100% atom efficient process. Herein, we report, for the first time, the efficient and high-yield cyclization of δ/ε-alkenoic acids and N-protected δ-alkenamides catalyzedby practical and easily accessible Lewis acid scandium(III) triflate under thermal and microwave conditions. The selectivity outcome of the reaction of δ/ε-alkenoic acids was dependent on the substitution patterns of the backbone chain and alkene moiety, leading to the exclusive formation of either the corresponding γ/δ-lactones via an O-selective cyclization or the Friedel–Crafts-type product by C-selective cyclization. An uncommon and rarely disclosed O-selective cyclization occurred preferentially or exclusively when N-protected δ-alkenamides were engaged in the reaction. The atom selectivity of the cyclization was unambiguously confirmed by single crystal X-ray crystallography.

With the rising interest in asymmetric catalysis promoted by earth-abundant elements, a chiral ligand will undoubtedly be the most valuable unit of the catalyst. The first proof of concept of the use of a multitask chiral ligand in an asymmetric assisted tandem catalysis protocol that successively combines metallo- and organocatalytic processes is reported herein. In this protocol, the chiral ligand of the newly designed rare-earth catalyst of the first reaction is converted into a novel chiral organocatalyst for the second transformation by the simple addition of HCl. The observation of some enantioinduction in the tandem sequence—alkyne hydroamination followed by enantioselective Friedel–Crafts alkylation—confirms the relay of the chiral N,N,N′,N′-tetradentate ligand and the importance of its pyridylmethylamine scaffold.

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This Perspective article provides an overview of the recent advancements in the field of intra- and inter-molecular C–N, C–O and C–P bond formation by hydroamination, hydroalkoxylation, hydrophosphination, hydrophosphonylation or hydrophosphinylation of unactivated alkenes, including allenes, 1,3-dienes and strained alkenes, promoted by (chiral) homogeneous catalysts based on earth abundant elements of the s and p blocks, the first row transition metals and the rare-earth metals. The relevant literature from 2009 until late 2014 has been covered.