Reduction of carbonyl compounds via hydrosilylation: V. Synthesis of optically active allylic alcohols via regioselective asymmetric hydrosilylation

Regioselective asymmetric reduction of prochiral α,β-unsaturated ketones to optically active allylic alcohols was performed via hydrosilylation catalyzed by a rhodium(I) complex with (+)-BMPP, (+)-DIOP and (?)-DIOP as chiral ligands. The allylic alcohols with optical purity up to 69% e.e. were obtained in good yields. The extent of asymmetric induction was found to depend on the stereo-electronic matching of the chiral ligand, ketone and hydrosilane employed. In the asymmetric reduction of (R)-carvone, leading to carveol, the extent of asymmetric induction was found to depend markedly on the ligand/rhodium ratio. Either trans-(5R,1S)-carveol or cis-(5R,1R)-carveol was obtained with good stereoselectivity by using (?)-DIOP or (+)-DIOP as chiral ligand, and it turned out that the chiral center present in carvone had only a slight influence on the asymmetric induction by the chiral catalysts.