Polymer-supported chiral α-amino amides for the asymmetric addition of diethylzinc to aldehydes: Transforming an inactive homogeneous system into an efficient catalyst Original Research Article

A series of polymer-supported α-amino amides derived from natural amino acids have been easily synthesized and fully characterized. Their chiral Zn (II) complexes catalyzed the enantioselective addition of diethylzinc to aldehydes to form chiral secondary alcohols in high yields and enantioselectivities up to 95% were obtained. The results showed that the immobilization of this chiral ligand onto a polymeric matrix transforms the inactive homogeneous system into an efficient catalyst. Moreover, the supported catalyst could be re-used at least five times without any significant loss of catalytic activity.