Mild and practical reductions of prochiral ketones to chiral alcohols using the chiral boronic ester TarB-H

Abstract

Chiral alcohols are prepared under mild conditions in high enantiomeric excesses using the tartaric acid derived chiral boronic ester TarB-H. The phenylboronic acid was quantitatively recovered and recycled using a simple extraction with sodium hydroxide and diethyl ether. Aromatic and aliphatic secondary alcohols were prepared in up to 99% ee. © Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart.