Kinetic Resolution of Secondary Alcohols Catalyzed by Chiral Phosphoric Acids

Abstract

Acid instead of base: Kinetic resolution of secondary alcohols is realized using chiral Brønsted acid catalyzed acylation instead of the conventional basic conditions. A broad range of functional groups are tolerated, such as aldehydes, carboxylic acids, and enoates. The selectivity factor (s) reaches up to 215 at ambient temperature.