Stereoselective Hydrosilylation of 1,2‐Diketones Catalyzed by Chiral Frustrated Lewis Pairs

Abstract The asymmetric reduction of 1,2‐diketones for the synthesis of optically active 1,2‐diols, especially 1,2‐ anti ‐diols, remains a formidable challenge. In this paper, we describe the first highly stereoselective hydrosilylation of unsymmetrical vicinal diketones with PhSiH 3 by using a chiral frustrated Lewis pair (FLP) catalyst, giving a variety of 1,2‐diaryl‐1,2‐ anti ‐diols in high yields with excellent d.r. values and up to 97 % ee . The chiral FLP catalyst exhibits the ability to control regio‐, diastereo‐ and enantioselectivites concurrently.