Mechanochemical synthesis of unsymmetrical salens for the preparation of Co–salen complexes and their evaluation as catalysts for the synthesis of α-aryloxy alcohols via asymmetric phenolic kinetic resolution of terminal epoxides

• Shengli Zuo,
• Shuxiang Zheng,
• Jianjun Liu and
• Ang Zuo

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1416–1423, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.147

• as an enantioselective catalyst for the asymmetric ring opening of terminal epoxides by phenols. A library of α-aryloxy alcohols 3 was thereafter synthesized in good yield and high ee using 2f via the phenolic KR of epichlorohydrin. Keywords: α-aryloxy alcohols; chiral Co–salen; HKR

• with regard to conformational differences, for instance, oligosalen [14], macrocyclic oligosalen [15], and polymeric salen [16]. Jacobsen and co-workers reported the first synthesis of α-aryloxy alcohols through the phenolic kinetic resolution (KR) of terminal epoxides using a Co–salen catalyst [17

• synthesis of unsymmetrical salens for the preparation of Co–salen complexes and their evaluation as catalyst for the synthesis of α-aryloxy alcohols through the phenolic KR of terminal epoxides (Scheme 1). Indeed, advantages to break the C2-symmetry in Co–salen complexes were reported before [23][40]. In