Schiff-base Amino Alcohol-zinc Complex for Enantioselective Addition of Phenylacetylene to Aromatic Ketones

A complete study of the asymmetric addition of phenylacetylene to ketones catalyzed by Schiff-base amino alcohol-Zn complex is reported in this article. The Schiff-base amino alcohols were easily prepared from amino acids in three steps. When the amount of ligand was 1%(molar fraction), an e.e. value up to 94% was obtained. A series of practical chiral ligands were applied in the enantioselective addition of phenylacetylene to ketones without adding another stronger Lewis acid except zinc.