Manipulating the Diastereoselectivity of Ortholithiation in Planar Chiral Ferrocenes

Abstract

The sense of asymmetric ortholithiation directed by a chiral oxazoline may be inverted simply by the choice of achiral ligand. Comparison of results with a number of ferrocenyl oxazoline derivatives suggests that lithiation takes place by coordination to the oxazoline nitrogen irrespective of the ligand used.