Enantioenriched synthesis of C1-symmetric BINOLs: iron-catalyzed cross-coupling of 2-naphthols and some mechanistic insight.

Highly enantioselective aerobic oxidative cross-coupling of 2-naphthols with broad substrate scope was achieved using an iron(salan) complex as the catalyst. Enantiomeric excesses of the products ranged from 87 to 95%. The scope of the cross-coupling reaction was found to be different from that of the homocoupling reaction under the same reaction conditions.