Chiral tertiary 2-furyl alcohols: diversified key intermediates to bioactive compounds. Their enantioselective synthesis via (2-furyl)aluminium addition to ketones catalyzed by a titanium catalyst of (S)-BINOL.

Novel asymmetric 2-furyl additions of (2-furyl)AlEt(2)(THF) to aromatic ketones and one alpha,beta-unsaturated ketone catalyzed by a titanium catalyst of 10-20 mol% (S)-BINOL are reported to furnish tertiary furyl alcohols in good to excellent enantioselectivities of 87-93% ee.