Diastereoselective addition of organomanganese compounds to α-alkoxysubstituted propanals

Reactions of organomanganese compounds R¹MnI (R¹ = Ph, 4-MeC₆H₄-, Me, Bu,n-C₇H₁₅, BuC=C, PhOC), prepared from R¹Li and Mnl₂ in Et₂O, with aldehydes MeCH(OR²)CHO (R² = CH₂Ph, CH₂OMe, CH₂OCH₂Ph) affordthreo-alcohols MeCH(OR²)CH(OH)R¹ with high diastereoselectivity. The interactions of phenylmanganese derivatives PhMnX (X = Cl, Br, I), Ph₂Mn, and Ph₃MnLi with 2-benzyloxypropanal were used as examples for studying the influence of reagent and solvent nature on addition diastereoselectivity.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 1, pp. 178–181, January, 1993.