C–O axially chiral diaryl ethers play important roles in natural products and bioactive molecules, but because of the low rotational barrier and strict steric hindrance requirements, the catalytic asymmetric construction of axially chiral diaryl ethers still remains a challenge. Herein, we devised a strategy employing achiral azlactone for the desymmetrization of prochiral diamines under the catalysis of chiral phosphoric acid. The targeted C–O axially chiral diaryl ethers were obtained in very good yields (up to 98%) and high enantioselectivities (up to >99.5:0.5 er). The synthetic utility was demonstrated through large-scale reaction and transformations of the products. Moreover, DFT calculations were conducted to probe the origins of enantioselectivity.

中文翻译：

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手性磷酸催化二氢唑酮去对称酰化对映选择性合成轴向手性二芳基醚

C-O轴向手性二芳基醚在天然产物和生物活性分子中发挥着重要作用，但由于低旋转势垒和严格的空间位阻要求，轴向手性二芳基醚的催化不对称构建仍然是一个挑战。在此，我们设计了一种利用非手性吖内酯在手性磷酸催化下使前手性二胺去对称化的策略。以非常好的收率（高达 98%）和高对映选择性（高达 >99.5:0.5 er）获得目标 C-O 轴向手性二芳基醚。通过大规模反应和产物的转化证明了合成效用。此外，还进行了 DFT 计算以探究对映选择性的起源。