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Synfacts 2011(12): 1364-1364  
DOI: 10.1055/s-0031-1289372
Organo- and Biocatalysis
© Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart ˙ New York

Asymmetric Reduction of Ketones

Contributor(s): Benjamin List, Ji-Woong Lee
Z. Zhang, P. Jain, J. C. Antilla*
University of South Florida, Tampa, USA
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Publication History

Publication Date:
18 November 2011 (online)

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Significance

The authors report an asymmetric reduction of ketones using a phosphoric acid catalyst and catechol borane as a reducing agent. It is assumed that ketone substrates are activated by a Lewis acidic boron center, not a Brønsted acid, in a chiral environment, which is formed by a chiral phosphate. DMAP was shown to play a crucial role in the catalysis in terms of enantioselectivity.