Straightforward access to chiral diol bidentate ligands: their efficient enantioselective induction in the addition of diethylzinc to aromatic aldehydes

Enantiopure C-2-symmetric diol bidentate ligands have been synthesized in a straightforward manner through a three-step reaction with good yields. The synthesized C-2-symmetric diol bidentate ligands were used in the addition of diethylzinc to various aromatic aldehydes, a general catalytic benchmark reaction, in order to assess their enantioselective induction properties. The enantioselective addition of diethylzinc to 1-naphthaldehyde and 3-chlorobenzaldehyde was achieved with an enantiomeric excess (ee) of up to 98%. All synthesized ligands were also evaluated in the addition of diethyzinc to aromatic aldehydes including an extra metal such as Ti(IV) (up to 99% ee). Copyright (c) 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.