Novel Substrates and Nucleophiles in Asymmetric Copper-Catalyzed Conjugate Addition Reactions

Tremendous progress in copper-catalyzed enantioselective conjugate addition has been seen since the first example of copper(I)-catalyzed conjugate addition of Grignard reagents to α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds was reported in 1941. This chapter summarizes recent progress and discoveries in copper(I)-catalyzed asymmetric conjugate addition of organometallics to novel electrophilic substrates, including α-substituted α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds and alkenyl-heteroarenes. The possibility of the challenging formation of contiguous stereocenters by sequential asymmetric addition/Mg enolate trapping and the addition of nucleophiles to rarely considered Michael acceptors such as alkenyl-heteroarenes is discussed in detail in this chapter.