Enantioselective Aerobic Epoxidation of Acyclic Simple Olefins Catalyzed by the Optically Active β-Ketoiminato Manganese(III) Complex.

Enantioselective aerobic epoxidation of acyclic cis-olefins into the corresponding optically active epoxides was carried out with good-to-high enantioselectivities by using a new class of optically active β-ketoiminato manganese(III) complex catalyst, N,N′-ethylenebis(α-mesitoyl-β-ketoiminato)manganese(III) chloride. The key intermediate of the present epoxidation is also discussed.