title: Catalyzed asymmetric aryl transfer reactions to aldehydes with boronic acids as aryl source.
abstract: Chiral diaryl methanols are important intermediates for the synthesis of biologically active compounds. Here, we describe a flexible method for their catalyzed asymmetric synthesis from readily available starting materials. Noteworthy is the fact that with a single catalyst both enantiomers of the product are accessible simply by choosing the appropriate combination of aryl boronic acid or aldehyde as aryl donor and acceptor, respectively. The catalysis with a planar-chiral ferrocene is easy to perform and yields a broad range of products with excellent enantioselectivities (up to 98% ee).
authors.affiliation: Institut für Organische Chemie der RWTH-Aachen, Professor-Pirlet Strasse 1, 52074 Aachen, Germany. carsten.bolm@oc.rwth-aachen.de
authors.forename: Carsten
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bolm
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rudolph
mesh_terms: D000447:Aldehydes / Q000737:chemistry*; D001592:Benzyl Alcohols / Q000138:chemical synthesis*; D001897:Boronic Acids / Q000737:chemistry*; D002384:Catalysis; D000432:Methanol / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000447:Aldehydes; D001592:Benzyl Alcohols; D001897:Boronic Acids; D000432:Methanol