Organic Chemistry Seminar

Controlling anionic species by counterions is a simple yet difficult strategy in synthetic chemistry due to the ambiguous distance and angle between anions and cations.  We have found that anionic intermediates can be precisely controlled by chiral organic cations through cooperative exploitation of electrostatic and hydrogen-bonding interactions to form a "structured ion pair".  Based on this concept, a series of highly chemo- and stereoselective transformations were developed under the unique catalyses of P-spiro aminophosphonium salts and ammonium betaines, and the story on this endeavor will be presented.