Stereospecific Acylative Suzuki-Miyaura Cross-Coupling: A General Access to Optically Active α-Aryl Carbonyl Compounds

A novel strategy for the stereospecific Pd-catalyzed acylative cross-coupling of enantiomerically enriched alkylboron compounds has been developed. The protocol features an extremely high level of enantiospecificity to allow facile access to synthetically challenging and valuable chiral ketones and carboxylic acid derivatives. The use of a sterically encumbered and electron-rich phosphine ligand proved to be crucial for the success of the reaction. Furthermore, based on experimental and computational studies, a unique mechanism for the transmetalation of the C(sp3)-based organoboron reagent has been identified.