A facile synthesis and asymmetric catalytic activity of new 3-substituted chiral BINOL ligands

Three new chiral ligands, (S)-3-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)methyl-1,1'-binaphthol [(S)-1], (S)-3-(1H-1,2,3-benzotriazol-1-yl)methyl-1,1'-binaphthol [(S)-2] and (S)-3-(2H-1,2,3-benzotriazol-2-yl)methyl-1,1'-binaphthol [(S)-3], were prepared by a simple method. They showed moderate catalytic properties for the asymmetric addition of diethylzinc to benzaldehyde in the presence of titanium tetraisopropoxide. Copyright (C) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.