New chiral CuII complexes and their catalytic activity in enantioselective Henry reaction

Abstract

New chiral polydentante ligands capable of complexation of Cu2+ ions were synthesized using readily available derivatives of (S)-proline, d-glyceraldehyde, and imidazole as the starting materials. The synthesized complexes are efficient catalysts for enantioselective nitroaldol condensation (the Henry reaction).