Practical Synthesis of Optically Active Styrene Oxides via Reductive Transformation of 2-Chloroacetophenones with Chiral Rhodium Catalysts

[reaction: see text] A practical method for the synthesis of optically active styrene oxides has been developed via formation of optically active 2-chloro-1-phenylethanols generated by reductive transformation of ring-substituted 2-chloroacetophenones. The optically active alcohols with up to 98% ee are obtainable from the asymmetric reduction of acetophenones with an S/C = 1000-5000 with a formic acid triethylamine mixture containing a well-defined chiral Rh complex, CpRhCl[(R,R)-Tsdpen].