Highly Catalytic Enantioselective Reformatsky Reaction with Aldehydes and Ketones Using an Available Prolinol Ligand.

A highly Me2Zn-mediated catalytic enantioselective Reformatsky reaction of aldehydes and ketones with ethyl iodoacetate using a readily available prolinol ligand is reported. This reaction provides an efficient method for the construction of beta-hydroxy esters in up to 98% yield and 95% enantiomeric excess (ee) value. A wide range of functional groups are tolerated and the practicality of this protocol is demonstrated by performing the reaction on a gram scale.