Axially chiral aryl-quinolones: atroposelective construction and applications in catalysis – QuinoA

Axially chiral molecules are not only common structural subunits in a vast array of natural products and biologically active molecules but they are also key components for stereoselective transformations in which they act as chiral inductors (ligands or catalysts). While elegant strategies have allowed the preparation of diversely functionalized enantioenriched biphenyl, phenyl-naphthyl and binaphthyl architectures, examples of enantioselective synthesis of aryl-heterocyclic atropisomers remain far less described. In a first part, the QuinoA project aims to develop new atroposelective cascade sequences for the construction of axially chiral aryl-quinolone architectures. The second part of the project will be devoted to the use of these molecules as promoters in asymmetric catalytic oxidation processes.