Divergent Pd-catalyzed cross-coupling of allenyloxazolidinones to give chiral 1,3-dienes and vinyloxazolidinones

The divergent reactivity of 5-allenyloxazolidinones has been explored. This novel building block undergoes Pd(0)-catalyzed cross-coupling with boronic acids to form a wide range of chiral 1,3-dienes and pharmaceutically useful vinyloxazolidinones, the chemoselectivity being tightly controlled by a simple switch in additive.