Catalytic enantioselective addition of diethylzinc to (hetero)aromatic aldehydes

Abstract

The asymmetric alkylation with diethylzinc of five heterocyclic aldehydes and benzaldehyde (for comparison) has been studied in the presence of two optically active amino alcohols: (S)-2-amino-1-butanol (AB) and (1S,2R)-N,N-dibutylnorephedrine (DBNE). A number of chiral (hetero)aromatic secondary alcohols were synthesized in high yields (95–98%) with enantioselectivity up to 92% enantiomeric excess (ee) in the presence of DBNE catalyst. Optically active thienyl and 4-pyridyl derivatives were prepared for the first time by catalytic asymmetric alkylation. The influence of the amount of DBNE on the enantioselectivity was investigated. In contrast to benzaldehyde, 2-furan- and 2-thiophene-carbaldehydes, in the case of 3- and 4-pyridinecarbaldehydes the ee values depend directly on the catalyst concentration. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.