Construction of Vicinal Stereocenters via Asymmetric Cyanosilylation

Asymmetric cyanosilylation serves as an important tool to convert easily available ketones into cyanohydrins of diverse reactivity. Whereas a large library of organocatalysts and transition-metal catalysts have been identified for monoketones, cyanosilylation of more-complex substrates, particularly those giving enantioenriched vicinal stereocenters, is underexplored in comparison. Here, a pair of recently published kinetic resolution and desymmetrization methods are highlighted for their success in constructing complex vicinal stereocenters by cyanosilylation using tailored aluminum and magnesium catalysts, respectively.1 Introduction2 Kinetic Resolution of α-Branched Ketones3 Desymmetrization of 1,3-Diketones4 Conclusion