From Aryl Bromides to Enantioenriched Benzylic Alcohols in a Single Flask: Catalytic Asymmetric Arylation of Aldehydes

Stop that achiral catalyst! Chiral Lewis acid catalyzed aryl additions to aldehydes that originate from aryl halides generate products with very low ee values (see scheme, left), because the achiral metal halide by-products are much more efficient catalysts than those derived from chiral amino alcohols. A LiCl-selective inhibitor is introduced that enables a highly enantioselective one-pot arylation of aldehydes that begins with aryl bromides (right).