Patent ID: 7323604

Claim:
A process for catalyzing an enantioselective 1,4-hydride reduction of an α,β-unsaturated aldehyde to produce an aldehyde having a chiral carbon at the β-position, wherein the process comprises contacting the α,β-unsaturated aldehyde with a hydride donor in the presence of a catalyst comprising an acid addition salt of an imidazolidinone, wherein the catalyst is capable of lowering the energy level of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital of the α,β-unsaturated aldehyde and the hydride donor is capable of reacting with the aldehyde by virtue of the lowered LUMO of the compound in the presence of the catalyst, and further wherein the imidazolidinone has the structure of formula (IIA) or (IIB) wherein: R 1 is selected from C 1 -C 24 hydrocarbyl, substituted C 1 -C 24 hydrocarbyl, heteroatom-containing C 1 -C 24 hydrocarbyl, and substituted heteroatom-containing C 1 -C 24 hydrocarbyl; R 2 has the structure -(L) m -CR 4 R 5 R 6 wherein m is zero or 1, L is C 1 -C 6 alkylene, and R 4 , R 5 and R 6 are C 1 -C 24 hydrocarbyl; and R 3 is selected from H, C 1 -C 24 hydrocarbyl, substituted C 1 -C 24 hydrocarbyl, heteroatom-containing C 1 -C 24 hydrocarbyl, and substituted heteroatom-containing C 1 -C 24 hydrocarbyl.