Asymmetric construction of binaphthyl by the chiral diether-mediated conjugate addition of naphthyllithium to naphthalenecarboxylic acid 2,6-di-t-butyl-4-methoxyphenyl ester

Two ways for the synthesis of binaphthyl were examined based on a chiral ligand-mediated asymmetric conjugate addition of 1-naphthyllithium to naththalene-2-carboxylic acid 2,6-di-t-butyl-4-methoxyphenyl esters. The one pot method by conjugate addition-elimination gave a relatively higher enantioselectivity than the two step synthesis based on addition and subsequent oxidative aromatization.