Construction of All-Carbon Quaternary Stereocenters by Palladium-Catalyzed Decarboxylative Propargylation.

A method for the construction of chiral quaternary stereocenters has been accomplished via decarboxylative palladium-catalyzed propargylic alkylation. Both pressurized sealed tubes and microwave irradiation have proven successful for this transformation, yet despite these forcing conditions a range of α-aryl,α-propargyl, and α-alkyl,α-propargyl containing all-carbon quaternary products have been synthesized in good yields and high enantioselectivities (up to 92:8 er). While palladium-catalyzed decarboxylative allylic alkylation has been well studied, this work represents the furthest advancement for the propargylic variant to date.