Chiral Cation–Anion Ligand Pair Directs Highly Selective Remote C–H Activation

Key words

iridium catalysis - C–H activation - enantioselectivity - regioselectivity - chiral cations

Significance

Phipps and co-workers report the application of chiral cation–anion ligand pairing in iridium complexes to achieve long-range asymmetric induction for C–H borylation. The reaction proceeds with low catalyst loading, affording the product in good yield with high regio- and enantioselectivity.

Comment

The authors propose that the control of enantioselectivity is enabled by the chiral cation employed in the iridium complex. Notably, both phosphorous and carbon stereocenters can be formed, depending on the substrate class employed.