Highly enantioselective nitroaldol reactions catalyzed by copper(II) complexes derived from substituted 2-(pyridin-2-yl)imidazolidin-4-one ligands.

Ten optically pure substituted 2-(pyridin-2-yl)imidazolidin-4-ones, 1a-d, 2a-4a, and 2b-4b, were prepared and characterized. The absolute configurations of individual ligands were determined by X-ray analysis or NOESY experiments. The Cu(II) complexes of the respective ligands were studied as enantioselective catalysts of the nitroaldol (Henry) reaction of aldehydes with nitromethane, giving the corresponding substituted 2-nitroalkanols. In the case of an anti arrangement of the imidazolidin-4-one ring, the obtained result was 91-96% ee, whereas in the case of syn arrangement, a significant drop to 25-27% ee was observed.