Benzaldehyde → (R)-(+)-1-Phenyl-1-propanol

Participants

Reaction Steps

After stirring a mixture of (1S,2R,4R)-1,2-bis((7,7-dimethyl-2-morpholinobicyclo[2.2.1]heptan-1-yl)methyl)disulfane (IIIa) (51 mg, 0.10 mmol) and diethylzinc (3.2 mmol, 1.0 M in hexanes) at ambient temperature for 30 minutes, neat benzaldehyde (200 μL, 2.0 mmol) was added in one portion. Upon complete consumption of benzaldehyde as judged by TLC, sat. aq. NH4Cl (3 mL) was slowly added to the reaction product mixture followed by ethyl acetate (20 mL). The mixture was washed twice with 1 N aq. HCl (20 mL each) and brine (5 mL), dried over solid Na2SO4, and concentrated to give a colorless oil which was purified by silica gel column chromatography (1:10 ethyl acetate/n-heptane) to give (R)-1-phenyl-propanol as a colorless oil (221 mg; 81%; 95.2% e.e.).

Provenance & Evidence