A short enantioselective synthesis of (−)-chloramphenicol and (+)-thiamphenicol using tethered aminohydroxylation

An efficient enantioselective synthesis of (−)-chloramphenicol (1) and (+)-thiamphenicol (2) is described. These antibiotics have been synthesized from commercially available 4-nitrobenzaldehyde and 4-(methylthio)benzaldehyde, respectively, using tethered aminohydroxylation and Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation as the chirality inducing steps.