The "hydroboration reaction" is a reaction in which a boron atom is introduced into the double bond of the terminal alkene (carbon double bond) of an aliphatic (chain carbon compound), and various organic compounds can be synthesized.In this reaction, the boron atom was always introduced on the carbon atom at the end of the double bond, and the reaction introduced on the carbon atom on the inner side was very difficult, and there were few development examples.

　In 2016, the research group reported for the first time in the world a reaction to introduce boron into the inside of an aliphatic terminal alkene (Markovnikov-type boring reaction).However, there are two types of compounds that are mirror-imaged (right-handed type and left-handed type), and industrial selection (enantioselectivity) is required, but control has been successful at this point. There wasn't.

　To solve this problem, it is essential to develop a new "chiral catalyst" that can select right-handed type or left-handed type, that is, can synthesize optically active compounds.Therefore, this time, quantum chemical calculations and demonstration experiments using a computer were repeated in multiple stages, and as a result, a rational design of the "chiral phosphorus ligand", which is the core of the chiral catalyst, was achieved and a high-performance chiral boration catalyst was developed. Succeeded in achieving "highly selective asymmetric Markovnikov boronization of aliphatic terminal alkenes" that could not be achieved for 60 years.

　With this achievement, it is expected that it will be possible to efficiently manufacture pharmaceutical raw materials from industrially inexpensive mixtures, which will lead to cost reduction of pharmaceuticals.

Paper information:[Nature Communications] Computational Design of High-Performance Ligand for Enantioselective Markovnikov Hydroboration of Aliphatic Terminal Alkenes