Effects of the electronic properties of chiral chelating diphosphines in stereoselective Diels–Alder cycloaddition reactions promoted by their transition metals complexes

The Pd(II) and Pt(II) complexes (perchlorates and hexafluoroantimoniates, respectively) of a series of C2 symmetric biheteroaromatic diphosphines differing in their electronic properties at phosphorus have been tested as catalysts in [4+2]-cycloaddition reactions of cyclopentadiene and N-2-alkenoyl-1,3-oxazolidine-2-ones. The best stereoselection results were obtained with the complexes produced from electron-rich ligands, which were found to give also the kinetically most active catalysts.