Chiral cobalt(II) complex catalyzed Friedel-Crafts aromatization for the synthesis of axially chiral biaryldiols
An efficient atroposelective synthesis of axially chiral biaryldiols via asymmetric Friedel-Crafts aromatization between p-quinones and 2-naphthols was developed. A chiral cobalt(ii) complex of N,N′-dioxide enabled the process to generate axially chiral biaryldiols in up to 98% yield and 95% ee. A large range of substituents at different positions of p-quinones and 2-naphthols was tolerable. The configuration of the product and the chiral N,N′-dioxide-Co(ClO4)2 catalyst was identified by X-ray crystal diffraction analysis and a possible catalytic model was suggested.