Cu-Catalyzed Asymmetric Conjugate Additions of Alkylzinc Reagents to Acyclic Aliphatic Enones

Cu-catalyzed enantioselective conjugate additions to acyclic aliphatic enones are reported. The resulting enolates may be functionalized intra- and intermolecularly, leading to the formation of an additional C−C bond. The utility of the present method is not limited to reactions involving Et2Zn; a variety of alkylzincs may be used. Moreover, many of the requisite substrates can be easily accessed through catalytic olefin cross metathesis.