Application of Chiral Olefin Ligands in Asymmetric Catalysis

As a novel class of potential ligands, chiral olefin ligands have attracted much attention. Chiral olefin ligands exhibit higher activity and selectivity than the traditional nitrogen, phosphine, oxide ligands in some reactions, and solved some problems that other ligands could not do. To enhance the coordination of the olefin ligands and the metal, heteroatoms were introduced to its backbone, several hybrid olefin ligands have been developed to increase the diversity of the ligands for further expanding the application of chiral olefin ligands. In this review, the recent advances in the development of chiral diene ligands, chiral phosphine olefin ligands and chiral sulfur olefin ligands, and their application in transition-metal catalyzed asymmetric reactions are reviewed.