Paddle‐Wheel Dirhodium Complexes Bearing Bulky Carboxylate Ligands: Synthesis and Catalysis in Carbene Insertion Reactions.

Dirhodium complexes bearing bulky carboxylate ligands are synthesized and characterized. The steric bulk of carboxylate ligands could affect the reaction selectivity in Rh‐catalyzed intramolecular reactions: Rh catalysts with bulky carboxylate ligands provided five‐membered ring products preferentially via the insertion into a carbon–hydrogen bond. Meanwhile, six‐membered ring products were obtained using conventional Rh catalysts via the insertion of a carbon‐carbon double bond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]