Ir-Catalyzed Regio- and Enantioselective Hydroalkynylation of Trisubstituted Alkene to Access All-Carbon Quaternary Stereocenters

The stereoselective construction of all-carbon quaternary stereocenters, especially acyclic ones, represents an important challenge in organic synthesis. In particular, homopropargyl amides with a quaternary stereocenter beta to a nitrogen atom are valuable synthetic intermediates, which could be transformed to diverse chiral structures through alkyne transformations. However, highly enantioselective synthetic methods for homopropargyl amides with a beta quaternary stereocenter are extremely rare. We report here unprecedented substrate-directed, iridium-catalyzed enantioselective hydroalkynylations of trisubstituted alkenes to form an acyclic all-carbon quaternary stereocenter beta to a nitrogen atom. The hydroalkynylation of enamide occurred with unconventional selectivity, favoring the more hindered reaction site. Homopropargyl amides with beta-stereocenters were prepared in high regio- and enantioselectivities. Combined experimental and computational studies revealed the origin of the regio- and enantioselectivities.