Oxazaborolidine catalyst (CBS catalyst) has been extensively used for catalytic borane reduction with a predictable absolute stereochemistry and high enantioselectivity. However, the use of isolated CBS catalyst sometimes has the drawback of low reproducibility due to the aging of the CBS catalyst during storage. Therefore, we investigated a more reliable and practical method for the reduction of a variety of ketones including challenging substrates, primary aliphatic ketones, α,β-enones, and trifluoromethyl ketones. This review surveys the developments in borane reduction using oxazaborolidine catalysts generated in situ from chiral lactam alcohols and borane.
Keywords: asymmetric synthesis; borane; enantioselective; lactam alcohol; reduction.