Patent ID: 6888012

Claim:
A process of preparing an optically active halohydrin compound represented by general formula (3), comprising reducing an Î±-haloketone compound represented by general formula (1) by asymmetric hydrogen transfer in the presence of a group 9 transition metal compound having a substituted or unsubstituted cyclopentadienyl group and an optically active diamine compound represented by general formula (2); wherein X represents a halogen atom; Y represents an aromatic hydrocarbon group, an aromatic heterocyclic group, an unsaturated hydrocarbon group or wherein R a and R b each represent a hydrogen atom, a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms, a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group having 6 to 15 carbon atoms or a substituted or unsubstituted aralkyl group having 7 to 20 carbon atoms, in which the alkyl, aryl and aralkyl group may contain a hetero atom in the carbon skeleton thereof; and Y 1 represents an amino group, a protected amino group, a hydroxyl group or a protected hydroxyl group; wherein R 1 represents an alkyl group, a fluoroalkyl group or a substituted or unsubstituted phenyl group; R 2 and R 3 , which may be the same or different, each represent a substituted or unsubstituted phenyl group or a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms, or R 2 and R 3 are taken together to form a ring; * indicates an asymmetric carbon; k represents an integer of 0 to 3; and the steric configuration is (S,S) or (R,R); wherein X and Y are as defined above, and * indicates an asymmetric carbon.