Advances in the catalytic asymmetric synthesis of quaternary carbon containing cyclobutanes

Abstract

Chiral cyclobutanes with quaternary stereogenic centers are motifs frequently found in various natural products and bioactive compounds. In addition, they are also useful intermediates for chemical synthesis, as they could undergo ring-expansion or ring-cleavage reactions to deliver various cyclic and acyclic chiral molecules. Therefore, the development of efficient catalytic methods for the highly enantioselective construction of chiral quaternary carbon containing cyclobutanes is of great synthetic value and has broad application prospects. The current review provides a summarization on the advances in catalytic asymmetric synthesis of quaternary carbon containing cyclobutanes.