Iridium-catalyzed asymmetric addition of imides to alkenes.

Enantioselective addition of an imide N-H bond to alkenes was realized by use of a cationic iridium catalyst. Bulky diphosphine ligands such as DTBM-segphos, DTBM-MeO-biphep, and DTBM-binap were indispensable for the reaction. A variety of styrene derivatives, allylsilanes, and norbornene were good substrates to give the corresponding chiral adducts with high enantioselectivity.