β-Carbon Elimination from Cyclobutanols: A Clean Access to Alkylrhodium Intermediates Bearing a Quaternary Stereogenic Center

The catalytic activation of C-C bonds bears significant ecological and economical advantages. In this account we describe our results for an enantioselective C-C activation of symmetrically substituted tert-cyclobutanols. Subsequent downstream reactions of the obtained alkylrhodium intermediate give rise to a wide range of synthetically versatile products bearing all-carbon quaternary stereogenic centers with excellent enantioselectivities.