Abstract
The catalyst assembled from inexpensive RuHCl(CO)(PPh(3))(3), JOSIPHOS (SL-J009-1), and either NaI or KI affects anti-diastereo- and enantioselective alkyne-mediated allylation of alcohol proelectrophiles via hydrogen autotransfer. This protocol offers an alternative to the iodide-bound precatalyst RuI(CO)(3)(η(3)-C(3)H(5)), which is somewhat sensitive and not commercially available. Application to the asymmetric synthesis of cis-2,3-disubstituted pyrrolidines 5a-5c and cis-2,3-disubstituted azetidine 6 is described.