Enantioselective Ni–Al Bimetallic Catalyzed exo-Selective C–H Cyclization of Imidazoles with Alkenes

A Ni–Al bimetallic catalyzed enantioselective C–H exo-selective cyclization of imidazoles with alkenes has been developed. A series of bi- or polycyclic imidazoles with β-stereocenter were obtained in up to 98% yield and >99% ee. The bifunctional SPO ligand-promoted bimetallic catalysis proved to be critical to this challenging stereocontrol.