Diastereoselective aldol additions of chiral beta-hydroxy ethyl ketone enolates catalyzed by Lewis bases.
The trichlorosilyl enolates derived from chiral ethyl ketones bearing a beta-hydroxyl group and an alpha-stereogenic center were employed in the phosphoramide-catalyzed aldol reaction. The addition of Z-enolates to achiral aldehydes produced aldol products in good yields and high syn relative diastereoselectivities. The internal diastereoselectivity is controlled by the catalyst configuration, allowing for selective formation of either syn diastereomer. [reaction: see text]