Direct Asymmetric Aldol Reaction Catalyzed By Chiral BINOL-Derived Zincate Catalysts

The aldol reaction is an important tool in organic synthesis due to its usefulness in synthesizingβ-hydroxy carbonyl compounds, which are subunits of many natural or unnatural products. In recent years, rapid development have been achieved in the field of direct asymmetric aldol reactions catalysted by organic molecules. And direct asymmetric aldol reactions using chiral metal catalysts have also got great achievement from the groups of Trost et al. and Shibasaki et al.However, it is still a formidable challenge that catalyzed asymmetric direct aldol reactions of aryl methyl ketones with aryl aldehydes. Herein, we report the synthesis of novel Trost-type semi-crown ligands. And asymmetric direct aldol reactions of aryl methyl ketones with aryl aldehydes is catalysted by the ligands-zincate catalysts. Medium-High enantioselectivities(up to 80% ee) are achieved.