Building upon their initial work illustrating the use of 2-azadienes for the enantioselective synthesis of challenging amine scaffolds, the Malcolmson lab has now reported that these reagents may engage in reductive couplings with imines for the synthesis of anti-1,2-diamines. The Cu-catalyzed process is highly chemo-, diastereo-, and enantioselective for the preparation of a range of diamines, including those that have largely remained elusive until now. The authors additionally highlight the differentiability of the products’ two amines thereby facilitating downstream synthesis. Read more about this research here in The Journal of the American Chemical Society.
