ABSTRACT In recent years, asymmetric catalytic propargylic substitution reactions have undergone remarkable development, enabling the construction of chiral carbon centers adjacent to intact carbon–carbon triple bonds. For the rational design and further advancement of new asymmetric transformations, a detailed understanding of the origins of enantioselectivity in previously reported reactions, obtained through quantum chemical calculations, is indispensable. In this context, recent density functional theory (DFT) calculations on transition‐metal‐catalyzed asymmetric propargylic substitution reactions have increasingly revealed that not only conventional steric effects and exchange repulsion but also weak attractive interactions, such as π–π and CH/π interactions, play critical roles in determining stereoselectivity. This review summarizes recent theoretical efforts to clarify the origins of enantioselectivity in transition‐metal‐catalyzed propargylic substitution reactions.
Sakata et al. (Tue,) studied this question.