title: Highly enantioselective hydrosilylation of aromatic alkenes.
abstract: Currently, the most effective and economic way to convert an alkene into an optically active alcohol is the two-step sequence: hydrosilylation/oxidation. Much work has been devoted to elucidating effective catalysts for this process, but hitherto only one effective and highly stereoselective process has been available. Herein we present a novel catalytic system for the asymmetric hydrosilylation of aromatic alkenes, giving the products in high yields and with the highest enantioselectivity (up to 99% ee) ever observed for this reaction. The reaction works efficiently for a variety of substituted aromatic alkenes, giving access after Tamao oxidation to almost optically pure benzylic alcohols in high yields.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Technical University of Denmark, Building 201, DK-2800 Kgs Lyngby, Denmark.
authors.forename: Jakob F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Jensen
authors.forename: Bo Y
authors.initials: BY
authors.lastname: Svendsen
authors.forename: Thomas V
authors.initials: TV
authors.lastname: la Cour
authors.forename: Henriette L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Pedersen
authors.forename: Mogens
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Johannsen