Enantioselective Ni-Al Bimetallic Catalyzed exo-Selective C-H Cyclization of Imidazoles with Alkenes.

A Ni-Al bimetallic catalyzed enantioselective C-H exo-selective cyclization of imidazoles with alkenes has been developed. A series of bi- or polycyclic imidazoles with β-stereocenter were obtained in up to 98% yield and >99% ee. The bifunctional SPO ligand-promoted bimetallic catalysis proved to be critical to this challenging stereocontrol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]