New chiral phosphinoimidazolidine ligand in palladium-catalyzed asymmetric allylic substitution

Chiral phosphinoimidazolidine 3 was used as an excellent ligand in Pd-catalyzed asymmetric allylic alkylation of racemic 1,3-diphenyl-2-propenyl acetate 5 with dimethyl malonate. Outstanding enantioselectivity of up to 99% and remarkable catalytic activity were observed. The ligand was also found to be effective in the asymmetric allylic amination of 5 with benzylamine.