Novel axially chiral phosphine ligand with a fluoro alcohol moiety for Rh-catalyzed asymmetric arylation of aromatic aldehydes.

A new chiral phosphine ligand (R)-1 possessing a fluoroalcohol moiety was prepared. The (R)-1-coordinated Rh(I) complex showed an excellent catalytic activity for asymmetric 1,2-addition of arylboronic acids to aldehydes to afford highly enantioenriched diarylmethanols. The fluoroalcohol moiety in ligand (R)-1 plays a pivotal role for the high enantioselectivity of the present Rh(I)-catalyzed transformation.