Hydroxyalkylation and Related Reactions

Jorgensen and coworkers reported aluminum-mediated asymmetric hydroxyalkylation reaction of electron-rich benzene derivatives with 2-pyridinecarboxaldehyde 

2-Pyridinecarboxaldehyde also reacts with other aromatic compounds such as 4-methoxyphenol and 1,3-dimethoxybenzene under the similar conditions to give the Friedel-Crafts products in 54 and 49%, respectively, however, less than 15% ee of the products was obtained. 

Firouzabadi reported the Bayer reaction of indole and indole derivatives with various aldehydes and ketones catalyzed by heteropoly acid AIPW12O40 (2-7 mol%) in CH3CN at room temperature to give bis(indolyl)methanes [20]. Comparison 

Modes for Coordination of Lewis Acids to Carbonyl Croups and Designed Lewis Acids 

It is widely accepted that Lewis acids play very important roles in aldol reactions first for electrophilic activation of carbonyl group through the coordination complex formation, for the control of regio- and stereoselectivity of the product and for the modification of metal enolates. For these purposes, a variety of combination of metal and ligand has been extensively studied. 

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