Asymmetric alkylation of N-pivaloyl-o-benzylaniline

Abstract Alkylation of 2-methoxyethoxyphenyl phenylmethane using sec -BuLi and (−)-sparteine has been carried out in excellent yields and up to 76% ee. The use of O’Brien’s (+)-sparteine surrogate gave the opposite sense of asymmetric induction at 80% ee while the use of chiral lithium amide bases gave modest yields and ees.