Transition metal catalyzed asymmetric cyclopropanation via diazo decomposition: Ligand architecture defining stereoselectivity

AbstractAsymmetric cyclopropanation of alkenes through diazo decomposition mediated by transition metal complexes is a widely investigated catalytic reaction to obtain cyclopropanes where high enantioselectivity is achieved by optimizing metal–ligand combination. Instead of a chronological listing of developments, this review illustrates the existing literature data according to the structural types of ligands in catalytic complexes and attempts to correlate substrate structure and selectivity with ligand design.