(-)-Menthol as a source of new N,N-diamine ligands for asymmetric transfer hydrogenation

The synthesis of new chiral N-monotosylated-1,2-diamines based on the (-)-menthol skeleton is presented. The elimination of HCl from neomenthyl chloride obtained from an Appel reaction led to p-menth-3-ene in excellent yield. Further functionalization of the double bond in p-menth-3-ene with chloramine-T gave the corresponding N-tosylaziridines, which upon reaction with sodium azide and subsequent reduction of the azide functional group, formed the 1,2-diamine system. The synthesized chiral ligands proved effective in the asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of aromatic ketones and an endocyclic imine.