Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2014, 53, 6439-6442

An efficient method for the enantioselective construction of tertiary vinylglycols through a palladium-catalyzed asymmetric decarboxylative cycloaddition of vinylethylene carbonates with formaldehyde was developed. By using a palladium complex generated in situ from [Pd₂(dba)₃]·CHCl₃ and a phosphoramidite ligand as a catalyst under mild reaction conditions, the process allows conversion of racemic 4-substituted 4-vinyl-1,3-dioxolan-2-ones into the corresponding 1,3-dioxolanes, as methylene acetal protected tertiary vinylglycols, in high yields with good to excellent enantioselectivities.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.201403754/abstract