Tunable furanoside diphosphite ligands. A powerful approach in asymmetric catalysis

A series of highly tunable furanoside diphosphite ligands, derived from readily available D-(+)-xylose and D-(+)-glucose, are discussed. Their modular nature allows a facile systematic variation in the configuration of the stereocentres at the ligand bridge and in the biaryl substituents. This enabled to select a ligand for each particular reaction that provided enantioselectivities that are comparable to those of the best catalysts previously reported in different asymmetric reactions.