Enantioselective α-Alkylation of Aldehydes Using 1,3-Benzodithiolylium Tetrafluoroborate

Significance

Cozzi and co-workers present the enantioselective α-alkylation of aldehydes with 1,3-benzodithiolylium tetrafluoroborate. Good to very high yields as well as high to excellent enan­tioselectivities were obtained using MacMillan catalyst 1. During the screening for the optimal reaction conditions it was shown that the choices of base as well as solvent system are of great importance in order to obtain good results. Functional groups, such as ethers, nitriles, carbamates, or acetals were shown to be tolerated.