Nitrogen-tethered bisimidazoline (Nb-imidazoline) ligand was utilized in the Cu(I)-catalyzed benzoylation of 1,2-diols. With the assistance of i-Pr(2)NEt, the reaction of rac-1,2-diols with o-methylbenzoyl chloride was smoothly catalyzed by Nb-imidazoline-CuCl in CH(2)Cl(2) to give the corresponding o-methylbenzoylated secondary alcohols in tip to 79% ee.