摘要 |
<p>Provided is an industrially advantageous method for producing optically active alcohols in high yields from ketones of various structures by using an inexpensive chiral catalyst. The method of the present invention for producing optically active alcohols comprises reducing a ketone in the presence of an iridium(III) complex having a chiral prolinamide compound as a ligand. The ketone is preferably a compound represented by formula [I]:
(wherein R 1 and R 2 are different from each other, and each represent an optionally substituted straight or branched alkyl group, an optionally substituted cycloalkyl group, an optionally substituted aryl group, an optionally substituted heteroaryl group, an optionally substituted aralkyl group, an optionally substituted heteroarylalkyl group, an optionally substituted alkenyl group or an optionally substituted alkynyl group, and
R 1 and R 2 may be bound to each other at any appropriate position to form a ring, the ring optionally containing one or more atoms which may be the same or different and are selected from an oxygen atom, an optionally substituted nitrogen atom and a sulfur atom, and optionally being condensed with an aromatic or hetero-aromatic ring).</p> |