SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR REGIOSELECTIVE CARBONYLATION OF 2,2-DISUBSTITUTED EPOXIDES

摘要

Provided are methods of carbonylating cyclic substrates to produce carbonyl ated cyclic products. The cyclic substrates may be 2, 2-di substituted epoxides and the cyclic products may be β,β-di substituted lactones. The method may be carried out by forming and pressurizing a reaction mixture of the cyclic substrate, a solvent, carbon monoxide, and a [LA⁺][CO(CO)4^-] catalyst, where [LA⁺] is a Lewis acid capable of coordinating to the cyclic substrate. The method may proceed with a regioselectivity of 90:10 or greater. The resulting carbonylated cyclic products may be converted to ketone aldol products that retain the stereochemistry and enantiomeric ratio of the carbonyl ated cyclic products.