The first chiral organometallic triangle for asymmetric catalysis.
A family of chiral organometallic triangles based on cis-Pt(PEt3)2 metallocorners and enantiopure atropisomeric bis(alkynyl) bridging ligands (L1-4) has been synthesized and characterized by 1H, 13C{1H}, and 31P{1H} NMR, UV-vis, and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopies, FAB and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, and microanalysis. Metallocycle 4 which contains three 1,1'-bi-2-naphthol functionalities in combination with Ti(iOPr)4 has been shown to be an excellent catalyst for highly enantioselective additions of diethylzinc to aromatic aldehydes to afford chiral secondary alcohols. This research illustrates the potential of generating novel functional materials on the basis of supramolecular chemistry.