“The aldol reaction is a venerable and widely applicable method for making carbon-carbon bonds. Ironically, it is most challenged by the simplest substrates. The trouble is that the product looks a lot like one of the reactants, and so it can latch onto the coupling partner instead. Schreyer et al. report that a bulky phosphorus-based acid catalyst alleviates this problem. The acidic site is buried in a pocket that is too small to activate the product for further reaction. The chiral geometry of the catalyst also induces high enantioselectivity.”

- Jake S. Yeston, deputy editor, Science.

 

Prof. Benjamin List and his research team describe this work in the publication “Confined acids catalyze asymmetric single aldolizations of acetaldehyde enolates” published in Science on October 12^th 2018.

 

Picture: Prof. Dr. Benjamin List, Dr. Lucas Schreyer