Highly enantioselective organocatalytic oxidative kinetic resolution of secondary alcohols using chirally modified AZADOs.

A highly enantioselective organocatalytic oxidative kinetic resolution (OKR) of racemic secondary alcohols has been accomplished using asymmetric organocatalysis. A panel of chirally modified 2-azaadamantane N-oxyls (AZADOs) exhibit superior catalytic activity and high enantioselectivity, allowing us to obtain optically active secondary alcohols with a k(rel) value up to 82.2.