Optically Active<i>N</i>,<i>N</i>′-Bis(3-oxobutylidene)diaminatomanganese(III) Complexes as Novel and Efficient Catalysts for Aerobic Enantioselective Epoxidation of Simple Olefins
A novel manganese(III) complex having an opticallyactive N,N′-bis(3-oxobutylidene)diamine ligand with bulky substituents was prepared and characterized crystallographically. In the presence of a catalytic amount of the manganese(III) complex, unfunctionalizedolefins were oxygenated to give opticallyactive epoxides with molecular oxygen by the combined use of several aliphatic aldehydes. Cyclic and