Rearrangement of α,α-Disubstituted Siloxy Aldehydes to Active Acyloins

Significance

This report by Maruoka is very interesting on two levels. They have developed a new ligand-catalyst system based on the axial chirality possible with a naphthyl moiety and succeeded in the catalytic asymmetric rearrangement of α,α-disubstituted siloxy aldehydes. Enantio­enriched products are obtained through enantio­selective rearrangements of achiral substrates as well as chiral, racemic substrates that undergo kinetic resolution.