Highly Enantioselective Cobalt-Catalyzed Hydroboration of Diaryl Ketones

A highly enantioselective cobalt-catalyzed hydroboration of diaryl ketones with pinacolborane was developed using chiral imidazole iminopyridine as a ligand to access chiral benzhydrols in good to excellent yields and ee. This protocol could be carried out in a gram scale under mild reaction conditions with good functional group tolerance. Chiral biologically active 3-substituted phthalide and (S)-neobenodine could be easily constructed through asymmetric hydroboration as a key step.