Iridium-Catalyzed Enantioselective Alkyne-Imine Reductive Coupling

Significance

This paper demonstrates the first catalytic enantioselective alkyne-imine reductive coupling which the authors use to devise a convenient route for synthesizing optically enriched allylic amines. An advantage of this approach is the absence of stoichiometric byproducts. The scope is very broad with excellent yields and enantioselectivies for a wide variety of alkynes and N-arylsulfonyl imines.