Catalytic asymmetric conjugate addition of terminal alkynes to α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds provides a powerful method to construct a stereogenic carbon center at the propargylic position with a high atom efficiency. In 2008, the group of Professor Tamio Hayashi from the Department of Chemistry, Kyoto University (Japan), reported the asymmetric conjugate addition of (triisopropylsilyl)acetylene to α,β-unsaturated ketones catalyzed by a rhodium complex coordinated to a bulky bisphosphine ligand, DTBM-Segphos.

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