Asymmetric Copper-catalyzed 1,4-Additions and Allylic Substitutions with Nucleophiles Formed by the Hydrometalation of Alkenes.

From pots and pans to hydrometalation: Hydrometalation reactions using boron and zirconium hydrides transform alkenes into useful alkylmetal nucleophiles. These nucleophiles can be employed in the copper‐catalyzed 1,4‐additions to α,β‐unsaturated carbonyl compounds or allylic substitutions. Important advances have been achieved recently, which enabled also enantioselective versions of these transformations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]