Mechanistic Investigations of the Pd‐Catalyzed Hydrogenolysis of Ketene Heterodimer β‐Lactones

Catalytic hydrogenolysis of the Z ‐isomer of a series of aryl‐substituted ketene heterodimer β‐lactones facilitated access to deoxypropionate derivatives with a dr ranging from 54:46 to 86:14, favoring the anti ‐isomer, and with excellent transfer of chirality (91 → 99 % ee for 13 examples). Although X = 4‐F was determined to provide optimal diastereoselectivity ( dr 86:14), a non‐linear relationship between diastereoselectivity and aryl...