Propylene carbonate is shown to be an environmentally friendly and sustainable replacement for dichloromethane and acetonitrile in proline-catalysed a-hydrazinations of aldehydes and ketones. Enantioselectivities comparable to those obtained in conventional solvents or ionic liquids can be obtained, even when using a lower catalyst loading.
A series of secondary amine–thiourea catalysts derived from l-proline and chiral diamine were prepared and successfully applied to the highly effective and enantioselectiveα-amination of unmodified aldehydes with various azodicarboxylates in excellent yields (up to 99%) and enantioselectivities (up to 99% ee) within a few minutes.