An Investigation into the Allylic Imidate Rearrangement of Trichloroacetimidates Catalysed by Cobalt Oxazoline Palladacycles

Dimeric palladacycles, di‐μ‐X‐bis[{η5‐(S)‐(pR)‐2‐[2′‐(4′‐methylethyl)oxazolinyl]cyclopentadienyl,1‐C,3′‐N}(η4‐tetraphenylcyclobutadiene)cobalt]dipalladium (COP‐X), containing bridging groups X=OAc, Cl, Br, I, O2CCF3, p‐O2CC6H4F, were synthesised and compared as catalysts for the asymmetric allylic imidate rearrangement of (E)‐Cl3CC(NH)OCH2CHCHR with R=nPr. The enantiomeric excess of the product (S)‐Cl3CC(O)NHCHRCHCH2 was essentially invariant of X (93–96 %) and the yield increased in the sequence I