Scope of the organocatalysed asymmetric reductive amination of ketones with trichlorosilane.

A highly active organocatalyst has been shown to affect the asymmetric reductive amination of ketones producing both aromatic and aliphatic amines. At 1 mol% catalyst loading, a series of structurally diverse chiral amines were quickly and economically prepared with good enantioselectivity and generally useful yield. The efficient synthesis of the calcimimetic (+)-NPS R-568 (67%, 89% ee) demonstrated the synthetic applicability of this methodology.