Patent ID: 6977315

Claim:
A process for producing optically active β-nitroalcohols, wherein nitroaldol reactions of aldehydes and nitroalkanes are carried out in the presence of a base and an optically active metal complex catalyst represented by the following formula (c): (where R 4 , R 5 , and R 6 represent independently a hydrogen atom, a straight, branched or cyclic alkyl group, a straight or branched alkenyl group, an aryl group, an acyl group, an alkoxycarbonyl group, an aryloxycarbonyl group, or an aralkyloxycarbonyl group, each of which may have a substituent, and R 5 and R 6 may be linked together to form a ring; X* represents a hydrocarbon group of 4 or more carbon atoms having an asymmetric carbon atom or axial asymmetry; M represents a cobalt ion or a chromium ion; and Y represents an anion capable of forming a salt when the valence of M is larger than that of a ligand, and Y does not exist when the valences of a metal ion and a ligand are equal to each other).