Synthesis of Electron-Deficient Chiral Biphenols and Their Applications in Catalytic Asymmetric Reactions

The
axially chiral biphenols are known as a broadly applicable
chiral source. However, only a few electron-deficient ones have been
reported to date. In the present study, chiral biphenols having several
electron-withdrawing groups have been designed, and a facile synthetic
route from readily available reagents has been developed. Newly synthesized
chiral electron-deficient biphenols and biphenol-derived chiral Brønsted
acids functioned as effective catalysts for several catalytic asymmetric
reactions.