Chiral Zn-catalyzed aerobic oxidative kinetic resolution of α-hydroxy ketones

The aerobic oxidative kinetic resolution of racemic α-hydroxy ketones was accomplished using a chiral Zn-quinine complex as the catalyst in the presence of molecular oxygen. The resulting optimized reaction conditions were applied to resolute different types of racemic α-hydroxy ketones and a maximum of 9.2 selectivity (s) was obtained with 88% ee for the recovered α-hydroxy ketone. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.