Recent progress in the catalytic synthesis of tertiary alcohols from ketones with organometallic reagents

Efficient tertiary alcohol synthesis is currently one of the most rapidly advancing fields in organic chemistry, and recent powerful catalytic methodologies can provide versatile tertiary alcohols, even with enantioselective properties. This review summarizes work on the highly efficient catalytic synthesis of tertiary alcohols from ketones and organometallic reagents. New trends in the catalytic synthesis of tertiary alcohols, including functionalized ones, such as tertiary cyanohydrins and tertiary aldols, are examined from the frontier viewpoints that use typical or transition-metal catalysts, organocatalysts, and metal ate complexes, among others.