Water-mediated one-pot multi-step synthesis of chiral 1,3-diarylpropan-1-ols by the asymmetric hydrofunctionalisation of simple alkynes

Abstract

A water-mediated and Rh-catalysed one-pot multi-step synthesis of chiral 1,3-diarylpropan-1-ols is presented. This protocol utilizes readily available terminal alkynes and aldehydes as reaction partners, and features mild conditions, easy operation and water as the sole solvent, thus serving as an ideal means for the efficient synthesis of chiral 1,3-diarylpropan-1-ols. Control experiments suggested that the formation of chalcone intermediate followed by a double reductive process is crucial for the success of the reaction. This catalytic methodology could be easily scaled up for gram-scale synthesis with up to 10 000 S/C and the resulting products can be used to easily derive various bioactive molecules.