The elpaN-salen series: multifunctional ligands based on d-glucose for the Mn(III)-catalyzed enantioselective epoxidation of styrenes

It is described the simple design of a series of N,N′,O,O′-chiral ligands (elpaN-salen-H2), which represent a subset of the elpaN-type library of ligands based on β-1,2-d-glucodiamine. The corresponding Mn(III) complexes were examined in the asymmetric epoxidation of styrenes with satisfactory results, e.g. cis-β-methylstyrene was functionalised in ees up to 88%.