Diastereoselective allylation of planar chiral substituted ferrocenecarboxaldehyde: an efficient entry to chiral ferrocenyl ligands

2,2′-Disubstituted ferrocenecarboxaldehydes are subjected to zinc-mediated allylation to form homoallylic ferrocenyl alcohols. The effects of ortho-substituted functional groups on facial selectivities of planar chiral aldehydes were studied and it was found that the corresponding homoallylic alcohols were obtained as single diastereomers in excellent yields.