The debut of chiral cyclic (alkyl)(amino)carbenes (CAACs) in enantioselective catalysis† †Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Experimental procedures, NMR spectra. CCDC 1919315. For ESI and crystallographic data in CIF or other electronic format see DOI: 10.1039/c9sc02810b

Cyclic (alkyl)(amino)carbene (CAAC) metal complexes can also engage in asymmetric transformations, thereby expanding the toolbox of available chiral carbene ligands. The popularity of NHCs in transition metal catalysis has prompted the development of chiral versions as electron-rich neutral stereodirecting ancillary ligands for enantioselective transformations. Herein we demonstrate that cyclic (alkyl)(amino)carbene (CAAC) ligands can also engage in asymmetric transformations, thereby expanding the toolbox of available chiral carbenes.