Enantioselective cyanoformylation of aldehydes mediated by BINOLAM-AlCl as a monometallic bifunctional catalyst

BINOLAM-AlCl's, binaphthoxide aluminium chloride species generated in situ from either (R)- or (S)-3,3'-bis(diethylaminomethyl)-2,2'-dihydroxy-1,1'-binaphthalene (BINOLAM) behave as Lewis acid-Lewis base (LA-LB) catalysts in the enantioselective addition of methyl cyanoformate to aldehydes at room temperature, thereby leading to the asymmetric synthesis of (S)- or (R)-O-methoxycarbonyl cyanohydrins, respectively. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.