Enantioselective Addition of Diethylzinc to Aryl Aldehydes Catalyzed by Novel Chiral Imino Alcohol Ligands

The enantioselective alkylation of aryl aldehydes by diethylzinc in the presence of catalytic amounts of several novel chiral imino alcohol ligands, synthesized from the reaction of (R)-2-amino-1-butanol with aromatic aldehydes, was studied. The influence of temperature and ligand structure was investigated and enantioselectivity up to 81% was obtained