Iron-Catalyzed Asymmetric Epoxidation of β,β-Disubstituted Enones

The combination of Fe(OTf)(2) and novel phenanthroline ligands enables the catalytic asymmetric epoxidation of acyclic β,β-disubstituted enones, which have been a heretofore inaccessible substrate class. The reaction provides highly enantioenriched α,β-epoxyketones (up to 92% ee) that can be further converted to functionalized β-ketoaldehydes with an all-carbon quaternary center.