Ligand-Directed Divergent Synthesis of Carbo- and Heterocyclic Ring Systems

Chemical tools that enable a catalytic reaction to selectively and efficiently yield different products will allow charting of wider chemical space. In ligand-directed divergent synthesis, a common mode of catalysis is modulated by employing different ligands for catalytic organometallic complexes to transform either common substrates or common reactive intermediates into distinct molecular scaffolds. The strategy has the potential to create important and diverse scaffolds and to unveil novel modes of catalytic transformations for wider synthetic applications. This strategy is described and recent efforts in this emerging field of catalysis, focusing on transition-metal catalysis for the synthesis of carbo- and heterocyclic ring systems, are reviewed.