Enantioselective Diphenylzinc Addition to Various Aldehydes

Significance

Diphenylzinc addition to aldehydes using a catalytic amount of an H₈-binol derivative to afford chiral secondary benzylic alcohols in excellent enantioselectivities and good to excellent yield is reported. Both aromatic and aliphatic aldehydes were tolerated to give uniformly high enantio­selectivity. It is important to perform the reaction in THF since other solvents tend to give much lower enantioselectivities. The catalyst can be easily prepared in excellent yield by reacting H₈-binol with morpholinomethanol.