The title compound 3 has been prepared via a highly selective, Cu(II)-mediated cross-coupling of 2-aminonaphthalene 1 and 2-naphthol 2 and resolved into enantiomers via crystallization of diastereoisomeric salts with (1S)-(+)-10-camphorsulfonic acid. The method has been optimized and the use of chromatography eliminated. C 2 -Symmetrical, 2,2′-disubstituted 1,1′-binaphthyls, such as BINOL 5, BINAP, etc., which all have identical groups in positions 2 and 2′, are established ligands for use in asymmetric catalysis 1 . On the other hand, their congeners with non-identical substituents in these positions (which are no longer C 2 -symmetrical) have only recently emerged. Among them, Hayashi's MOP (with OMe and PPh 2 groups) 2 and our amino alcohol 3 (NOBIN) (refs 3-5 ), have risen to prominence 2,6 . Whereas C 2 -symmetrical 1,1′-binaphthyls, such as BINOL 5, are readily synthesized via an efficient oxidative coupling of the appropriate naphthol (e.g. 2) (refs 1,7 ), non-symmetrical derivatives are generally more difficult to obtain since their preparation requires a selective transformation of one of two identical functional groups 2,8 . Recently, we have described a highly chemoselective oxidative cross-coupling between two different naphthyl derivatives [3][4][5]9 and rationalized the observed selectivity in terms of frontier orbital theory 5 . In short, the most selective cross-coupling can be expected for those pairs of reactants where one component is electron-rich (and, therefore, easily oxidized), whereas the other partner is relatively electron-poor (e.g., due to an electronwithdrawing group) 5 . Thus, for instance, typical pairs for successful cross-coupling are 2-aminonaphthalene and 3-methoxycarbonyl-2-naphthol (71%) (ref. 5 ), 2-naphthol and 3-methoxycarbonyl-2-naphthol (81%) (refs 5,9 ), or 2-aminonaphthalene and 2-naphthol (85%) (refs 3,5 ). For further examples of selective cross-coupling see ref. 9 . The latter 1520 Smrcina,
