Chiral-at-metal catalysts: history, terminology, design, synthesis, and applications

For decades, advances in chiral transition metal catalysis have been closely tied to the development of customized chiral ligands. Recently, however, an alternative approach to this traditional metal-plus-chiral-ligand method has emerged. In this new strategy, chiral transition metal catalysts are composed entirely of achiral ligands, with the overall chirality originating exclusively from a stereogenic metal center. This "chiral-at-metal" approach offers the benefit of structural simplicity. More importantly, by removing the need for chiral elements within the ligand framework, it opens up new possibilities for designing innovative catalyst architectures with unique properties. As a result, chiral-at-metal catalysis is becoming an increasingly important area of research. This review offers a comprehensive overview and detailed insights into asymmetric chiral-at-metal catalysis, encouraging scientists to explore new avenues in asymmetric transition metal catalysis and driving innovation in both fundamental and applied research.

Catalytic asymmetric conjugate addition of coumarins to unsaturated ketones catalyzed by a chiral-at-metal Rh(III) complex

The first catalytic asymmetric vinylogous Michael addition of coumarins to unsaturated ketones catalyzed by chiral rhodium catalysts has been established. This strategy allowed the synthesis of a variety of highly enantioenriched compounds containing coumarin skeletons in 41-99% yields and 84-99% ee. The developed reaction enriches the chemistry of catalytic asymmetric vinylogous Michael additions of 3-cyano-4-methylcoumarins. Furthermore, the protocol showed obvious advantages in reaction enantioselectivity. When the chiral rhodium catalyst was reduced to 0.06 mol%, a Gram-level reaction was still achieved to provide the desired products with 99% ee.

Catalytic Asymmetric Conjugate Addition of 2-Methyl-3,5-dinitrobenzoates to Unsaturated Ketones

Asymmetric catalytic vinylogous Michael addition of 2-methyl-3,5-dinitrobenzoates to unsaturated ketones catalyzed by chiral rhodium catalysts has been established. This strategy allowed the synthesis of a variety of optically pure compounds containing imidazole and 3,5-dinitrobenzene skeletons in 64-98% yields with 88-98% ee. The developed reaction not only represents highly asymmetric catalytic enantioselective vinylogous Michael addition employing 2-methyl-3,5-dinitrobenzoates as a building block but also enriches the chemistry of catalytic asymmetric vinylogous Michael addition of 2-methyl-3,5-dinitrobenzoates. Furthermore, the protocol showed obvious advantages in reaction activity and enantioselectivity. When the chiral rhodium catalyst was reduced to 0.06 mol %, the gram-level reaction was still achieved to provide the desired product with 95% ee.

A chiral-at-metal asymmetric catalyzed vinylogous Michael addition of ortho-methyl aromatic nitro compounds for isoxazole derivative synthesis

A chiral-at-metal rhodium(iii) complex catalyzed asymmetric vinylogous Michael addition of 5-methyl 4-nitroisoxazoles with α,β-unsaturated 2-acyl imidazoles has been developed, delivering the corresponding adducts with up to 96% yield and 97% ee.

Chiral-at-metal rhodium(iii) complex catalyzed enantioselective synthesis of C2-substituted benzofuran derivatives

An enantioselective C2-nucleophilic functionalization of 3-aminobenzofurans has been realized under catalysis of chiral rhodium(iii) complexes, affording a large array of C2-substituted benzofuran derivatives in high yields and enantioselectivities.