Torben Birk Christensen, Ditte Riber, Kim Daasbjerg and Troels Skrydstrup
Substantial yield increases have been noted in the use of a di-SmI2 binding ligand for the pinacol coupling of alkyl aldehydes compared to 1∶1 complexes of SmI2 and tetraglyme. High diastereoselectivities of ca. 10∶1 are also observed for α-substituted alkyl aldehydes in favour of the (±)-isomers.