Synthesis of a new chiral N,N,N-tridentate pyridinebisimidazoline ligand library and its application in Ru-catalyzed asymmetric epoxidation.

A small ligand library of chiral tridentate N,N,N-pyridinebisimidazolines have been synthesized for the first time. This new class of ligands can be easily tuned and synthesized on multi g-scale. The usefulness of the ligands is shown in the ruthenium-catalyzed asymmetric epoxidation with hydrogen peroxide as oxidant. Excellent yields (>99%) and good enantioselectivities (up to 71% ee) have been obtained for the epoxidation of aromatic olefins. [reaction: see text]