Proline-catalysed asymmetric aldol reaction in the room temperature ionic liquid [bmim]PF6

Abstract

Proline-catalysed asymmetric direct aldol reaction of different aromatic aldehydes with acetone and several other ketones in the room temperature ionic liquid 1-n-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate achieved good yields of aldolisation products with reasonable enantioselectivities, even when just 1–5% of proline was used as the catalyst; immobilisation of the catalyst in an ionic liquid phase offers simple product isolation and reuse of the catalytical system in subsequent reactions.