Proline Ester Catalyzed Direct Aldol Reactions Under Solvent-free Condition

In this thesis, L-Proline esters including L-proline methyl ester, ethyl ester, propyl ester and benzyl ester were synthyzed. The direct aldol reactions under solvent-free conditions catalyzed by these proline esters were investigated. The results indicated that L-Proline methyl ester can effectively catalyze aldol reaction of ketones with a variety of aldehydes and good to excellent yields were obtained under solvent-free condition.When cyclopentanone was used as the reactant, the corresponding aldol products were obtained in high yield, with moderate to high syn-selectivity, The reaction reported here may have potential to synthesize syn-β-hydroxyl cyclopentanones.