Enantioselective hydroesterificative cyclization of 1,6-enynes to chiral γ-lactams bearing a quaternary carbon stereocenter

A palladium-catalyzed asymmetric hydroesterification-cyclization of 1,6-enynes with CO and alcohol was developed to efficiently prepare a variety of enantioenriched γ-lactams bearing a chiral quaternary carbon center and a carboxylic ester group. The approach featured good to high chemo-, region-, and enantioselectivities, high atom economy, and mild reaction conditions as well as broad substrate scope. The correlation between the multiple selectivities of such process and the N-substitutes of the amide linker in the 1,6-enyne substrate has been depicted by the crystallographic evidence and control experiments.