Unruly [1,2]-Wittig reaction tamed to produce products with precise stereochemistry

For decades, chemists have viewed the [1,2]-Wittig rearrangement as a stubborn rule-breaker – a powerful carbon–carbon bond-forming reaction believed to proceed through unruly radical pairs and largely beyond precise catalytic control. But a new study shows it can in fact be steered with accuracy, opening a route to enantioenriched tertiary alcohols.