Asymmetric organocatalytic aldol reaction in the presence of water

ORGN 987

Vinod K. Singh, vinodks@iitk.ac.in, V. Maya, and Monika Raj. Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, 208016, India
Enantioselective reactions catalyzed by organic molecules (asymmetric organocatalysis) “in water” or “in the presence of water” is an emerging area in asymmetric synthesis. Recently, we developed an organocatalyst for enantioselective aldol reaction.1 Later, we discovered that the same reaction becomes more facile if carried in the presence of aqueous medium. Thus, we are able to get more than 99% ee by using less than 1 mol % of the organocatalyst. In this talk, I will discuss these results.

1. M. Raj, V. Maya, S.K. Ginotra, and V.K. Singh, Org. Lett. 2006, 8, 4097.