Enantioselective addition of organozinc reagents to aldehydes catalyzed by 3,3′-bis(diphenylphosphinoyl)-BINOL

The enantioselective addition of organozinc reagents to aromatic and aliphatic aldehydes I gives secondary alcohols 2 with excellent enantioselectivities in high yields through the catalytic use of (R)-3,3'-bis(diphenylphosphinoyl)-BINOL (3) or (R)-3,3'-bis(diphenylthiophosphinoyl)-BINOL (4) without Ti(IV) complexes. The coordination of the O or S atom of a (thio)phosphinoyl group bearing a BINOL backbone to organozinc reagents can efficiently increase the nucleophilicity of the organozinc reagents.