Chloroform → 4-Phenyl-2-butanol

Participants

Reaction Steps

This reaction was performed as in Example 1 with bis(cyclooctadienyl)rhodium tetrafluoroborate (20 mg; 0.05 mmol; 0.02 equiv), R,R-1,2-bis(2,5-dimethylphospholano)benzene (6, R"=CH3 ; 18 mg; 0.06 mmol; 0.024 equiv) and 4-phenylbut-1-en-2-yl acetate (476 mg; 2.5 mmol) in 20 mL of degassed THF until hydrogen uptake ceased (1.5 h) to afford 0.51 g of crude product. 1H NMR analysis indicated 4-phenyl-2-butyl acetate as the sole product, and chiral GC analysis and comparison to racemate indicated 77% ee for 4-phenyl-2-butyl acetate. Base hydrolysis afforded 4-phenyl-2-butanol, [α]D25 -12.0° (c 2.115, CHCl3), which indicates the (R) configuration when compared with the known rotation ([α]D +13.5° (c 2.1, CHCl3)) for the (S) enantiomer.

Provenance & Evidence