Facile preparation of optically pure 7,7'-disubstituted BINOLs and their application in asymmetric catalysis.

A family of optically pure 7,7'-disubsituted-2,2'-dihydroxy-1,1'-dinaphthyls have been conveniently prepared from easily accessible 7-alloxyl-2-naphthol by reaction sequences beginning with the asymmetric oxidative coupling and followed by key synthetic steps including deprotection, alkylation, and Suzuki coupling. Application of these binaphthols in catalytic phenylacetylene addition to aldehydes resulted in excellent enantioselectivities.