The ability to form carbon-carbon, carbon-nitrogen, and carbon-oxygen bonds enantioselectively under mild conditions makes the Trost asymmetric allylic alkylation extremely appealing for the synthesis of complex molecules.
An example of this reaction is the synthesis of an intermediate in the combined total synthesis of galantamine and morphine with 1 mol% [pi-allylpalladium chloride dimer], 3 mol% (S,S) Trost ligand, and triethylamine in dichloromethane at room temperature. These conditions result in the formation of the (−)-enantiomer of the aryl ether in 72% chemical yield and 88% enantiomeric excess.
Another Tsuji–Trost reaction was used during the initial stages of the synthesis of (−)-neothiobinupharidine. This recent work demonstrates the ability of this reaction to give highly diastereoselective (10:1) and enantioselective (97.5:2.5) products from achiral starting material with only a small amount of catalyst (1%).