An efficient, enantioselective rhodium-catalyzed addition of potassium alkenyltrifluoroborates to N-nosyl aliphatic imines has been realized. Good reaction yields and excellent enantioselectivities (94–99% ee) were obtained for a variety of aliphatic imines and nucleophilic alkenyltrifluoroborates. An active rhodium-diene catalyst and the precise reaction condition control proved to be pivotal for success.

The aryl to vinyl palladium 1,4-migration was realized for the first time. The generated alkenyl palladium species was trapped by diboron reagents under Miyaura borylation conditions, providing a new method to synthesize β,β-disubstituted vinylboronates. The excellent regioselectivity and broad substrate scope were observed for this novel transformation.

A highly diastereo- and enantioselective rhodium-catalyzed arylation of cyclobutenes for the efficient synthesis of chiral cyclobutanes has been developed. Chiral diene ligands exhibited excellent capability for the reaction diastereoselectivity control.

The enantioselective rhodium-catalyzed 1,2-addition of arylboronates to cyclic N-sulfamidate alkylketimines was developed. With a rhodium/diene complex as catalyst, high enantioselectivity and broad functional group tolerance were observed. The resulting sulfamidates can easily be converted into chiral β-alkyl-β-aryl amino alcohols.

A highly enantioselective rhodium-catalyzed arylation of aliphatic N-tosylaldimines has been developed. The combination of chiral bicyclo[3.3.0]octadiene ligands, an active rhodium hydroxide complex, and neutral reaction conditions is the key to achieving high yield and enantioselectivity. The application of this method is demonstrated by the enantioselective synthesis of chiral 2-aryl pyrrolidines and piperidines in a one-pot procedure. Furthermore, excellent results are also obtained for the imine substrates with the more readily cleavable N-nosyl protecting group.

An efficient rhodium/diene-catalyzed asymmetric addition of arylboronic acids to α,β-unsaturated γ-lactams has been developed. The power of this methodology is further demonstrated by the concise synthesis of (R)-baclofen and (R)-rolipram.

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.

A highly diastereo- and enantioselective rhodium-catalyzed arylation of cyclobutenes for the efficient synthesis of chiral cyclobutanes has been developed. Chiral diene ligands exhibited excellent capability for the reaction diastereoselectivity control.