The catalytic, nucleophilic enantioselective trifluoromethylation reaction of both acyclic and cyclic aryl ketones using the Ruppert-Prakash reagent is now at hand, with an operationally simple procedure, based on the combination of ammonium bromide of cinchona alkaloids with TMAF. The procedure is reliable and general. Trifluoromethyl-substituted tetrasubstituted aryl alcohols have been synthesized in up to 94% ee.

Enantioselective syntheses O 0031Cinchona Alkaloids/TMAF Combination-Catalyzed Nucleophilic Enantioselective Trifluoromethylation of Aryl Ketones. -The optimized conditions allow the access to a broad spectrum of important building blocks via a simple procedure. -(MIZUTA, S.; SHIBATA*, N.; AKITI, S.; FUJIMOTO, H.; NAKAMURA, S.; TORU, T.; Org. Lett. 9 (2007) 18, 3707-3710; Dep. Appl. Chem., Nagoya Inst. Technol., Showa, Nagoya 466, Japan; Eng.) -R. Steudel 04-028