Highly Enantioselective Catalytic Phenylation of Ketones with a Constrained Geometry Titanium Catalyst

The catalytic asymmetric addition of phenyl groups from diphenylzinc to ketones is reported. The catalyst, generated from a dihydroxy bis(sulfonamide) ligand and titanium tetraisopropoxide, gives good to excellent enantioselectivities with a range of substrates.