The assignment of the configuration for α-hydroxy acid esters using a CEC strategy

Abstract

A simple and efficient ¹H NMR method for determining the absolute configuration of chiral α-hydroxy acid esters using a competing enantioselective conversion (CEC) strategy was developed. The α-hydroxy acid esters were acylated in the presence of Feng's chiral N,N′-dioxide–scandium(III) complex, and the faster reaction was identified when one enantiomer of the chiral α-hydroxy acid ester was treated with both enantiomers of the ligand by NMR analysis of the reaction mixture without further purification. A mnemonic is presented to aid the assignment of the absolute configuration of the substrates.