Huw Davies and co-worker at Emory have recently reported in JACS on the use of an alpha,alpha-diazo-benzyl methyl ester to a chiral tertiary alcohol using a secondary alcohol and a asymmetric rhodium dimer catalyst. The reaction involves an O-H insertion step followed by a [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement. This chemistry reminds us how Michael Doyle’s methodology is very important in the field.
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