Novel preparation of non-racemic 1-[α-(1-azacycloalkyl)benzyl]-2-naphthols from Betti base and their application as chiral ligands in the asymmetric addition of diethylzinc to aryl aldehydes

A novel route for the preparation of non-racemic 1-[α-(1-azacycloalkyl)benzyl]-2-naphthols was developed, which involves regioselective N-cycloalkylation of the Betti base with dials in the presence of NaBH3CN to give 1-azacycloalka[2,1-b]oxazine followed by the selective cleavage of a C–O bond with LiAlH4. As a new family of chiral ligands, their application in the enantioselective addition of diethylzinc to aryl aldehydes was tested. The ligands incorporating pyrrolidine and piperidine led to highly efficient asymmetric induction to give products in up to 96% yield and 99% ee.