Cobalt-catalyzed enantioselective intramolecular hydroacylation of ketones and olefins

Cobalt-chiral diphoshine catalytic systems promote intramolecular hydroacylation reactions of 2-acylbenzaldehydes and 2-alkenylbenzaldehydes to afford phthalide and indanone derivatives, respectively, in moderate to good yields with high enantioselectivities. The ketone hydroacylation did not exhibit a significant H/D kinetic isotope effect (KIE) with respect to the aldehyde C-H bond, indicating that C-H activation would not be involved in the rate-limiting step.