Coordination mode for turn-based phosphine ligands: the origin of selectivity in Pd catalysis

A series of experiments was performed to determine the nature of the catalyst in peptide-derived phosphine ligands. The selectivity of the catalyst system was determined with four ligands that are diastereomeric at the phosphine containing amino acid. Additionally, a series of monophosphine ligands was synthesized and screened to determine if the active catalysts are derived from a phosphine–amide complex.