Chemoselective catalytic conjugate addition of alcohols over amines

Abstract

A highly chemoselective conjugate addition of alcohols in the presence of amines is described. The cooperative nature of the catalyst enabled chemoselective activation of alcohols over amines, allowing the conjugate addition to soft Lewis basic α,β-unsaturated nitriles. Divergent transformation of the nitrile functionality highlights the utility of the present catalysis.

Keywords: amino alcohols; chemoselective catalysis; cooperative effects; proton transfer; synthetic methods.