Synthesis of a new type of chiral amino phosphine ligands for asymmetric catalysis

This article describes the synthesis of a new type of chiral amino phosphine ligands from an amino naphthol starting material derived by asymmetric 1-aminoalkylation of 2-naphthol with (R)-1-phenylethylamine and benzaldehyde. The asymmetric induction properties of the ligands in the Pd(0)-catalyzed allylic substitution of 1,3-diphenylprop-2-en-1-yl acetate with dimethyl malonate has also been investigated, with near-quantitative yields and ee of up to 72.2% of the product being obtained under the optimized reaction conditions. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.