C1-symmetric dicyclopentadienes as new chiral diene ligands for asymmetric rhodium-catalyzed arylation of N-tosylarylimines.

Monosubstituted C1-symmetric dicyclopentadienes as a new class of diene ligands have been developed for asymmetric arylation of N-tosylarylimines in excellent yields (98−99%) with high enantioselectivities (90−96%). The preparation of these diene ligands relied on an efficient lipase-catalyzed resolution as the key step.