Organocatalytic Atroposelective Arylation of 2-Naphthylamines as a Practical Approach to Axially Chiral Biaryl Amino Alcohols

The first phosphoric acid catalyzed direct arylation of 2-naphthylamines with iminoquinones for the atroposelective synthesis of axially chiral biaryl amino alcohols has been developed. This reaction constitutes a highly functional-group-tolerant route for the rapid construction of enantioenriched axially chiral biaryl amino alcohols, and is a rare example of 2-naphthylamines acting as nucleophiles in an organocatalytic enantioselective transformation. Furthermore, the products, which feature various halogen atoms, provide access to structurally diverse axially chiral amino alcohols through further transformations.