Palladium-catalyzed enantioselective arylation of trichloro- or tri-/difluoroacetaldimine precursors.

A palladium-catalyzed asymmetric α-arylation of N -carbamoyl imine precursors containing CCl 3 , CF 3 and CF 2 H is presented. This protocol provides facile access to a series of chiral α-aryl trichloroethylamines bearing various functional groups, with moderate to high yields (40-82% yield) and high enantioselectivity (80-99% ee).