A novel chiral salen ligand (R,R)-2 was synthesized through the condensation of (R,R)-11,12-diamino-9,10-dihydro-9,10-ethanoanthracene and 3,5-di-tert-butylsalicylaldehyde. The (salen)Ti(IV) complex formed in situ upon the treatment of ligand 2 and Ti(OPr-i)4 was proved to be an efficient catalyst for the asymmetric trimethylsilylcyanation of aldehydes. The corresponding cyanohydrins were obtained in high yields (75-97%) with moderate to good enantioselectivities (48-76%).

A chiral benzodiazepine derivative 1 was synthesized starting from o-nitrobenzoyl chloride and methyl L-prolinate hydrochloride. Diastereomeric (1R,2R,1’S)-(+)-2-[N-methyl-N-(α-phenylethyl)amino]cyclohexanol 3a and (1S,2S,1’S)-(+)-2-[N-methyl-N-(α-phenylethyl)amino]cyclohexanol 3b were synthesized starting from (S)-α-phenylethylamine and cyclohexene oxide via ringopening, diastereomer separation and N-methylation. (S,S)-octahydrodipyrrolo[1,2-a:1’,2’-d]pyrazin 5 was synthesized from methyl L-prolinate. Chiral tertiary amines 1, 3a, 3b and 5 almost cannot catalyze the Baylis–Hillman reaction between o-nitrobenzaldehyde and methyl vinyl ketone (MVK). However, they functioned as efficient catalysts for this reaction in the presence of L-proline. The corresponding adducts were obtained in good yields with enantioselectivity of 83% ee, 81% ee, 51% ee and 66% ee, respectively.

A series of chiral bis-Schiff bases were synthesized starting from (1R,2R)-(+)-diaminocyclohexane, (+)-cis-1,2,2-trimethyl-1,3-diaminocyclopentane, (R)-2,2’-diamino-1,1’-binaphthalene, and (1S,2S)-diphenyl-1,2-ethanediamine. The enantioselective ring-opening of meso epoxides with dithiophosphorus acids catalyzed by a (salen)Ti(IV) complex formed in situ upon the treatment of Ti(OPr-i)4 and the aforementioned chiral Schiff base was realized. The resulting products were obtained with low to good enantioselectivities (up to 73% ee). The (salen)Ti(IV) complex containing the backbone of 1,2-diaminocyclohexane exhibited the best enantioselectivity. The substituents in dithiophosphorus acids and those on the salen aromatic ring have a significant influence on the reaction. Moderate enantioselectivity were obtained for the (salen)Ti(IV) complex catalyzed ring-opening of racemic monosubstituted epoxides. High regioselectivity was observed for the alkyl substituted epoxides, whereas poor regioselectivity was obtained for the aryl substituted ones.

Some new chiral bifunctional o-hydroxyarylphosphonodiamides were synthesized starting from (+)-cis-1,2,2-trimethylcyclopentane-1,3-diamine and the absolute configuration of the phosphorus atom was determined by X-ray diffraction analysis. Excellent enantioselectivity (up to 98% ee) was achieved in asymmetric silylcyanation of aromatic aldehydes using a chiral titanium complex formed in situ from Ti(OiPr)4 and o-hydroxyarylphosphonodiamide as the catalyst.

In the presence of an effective air-stable nucleophilic trialkylphosphane orgaocatalyst, 1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphaadamantane, N-diethoxythiophosphorylimines 1 and N-diphenylthiophosphinoylimines 2 exhibited good reactivity in the methyl vinyl ketone or methyl acrylate based aza-Morita–Baylis–Hillman reaction. The corresponding products were obtained in fair-to-excellent chemical yields. Moreover, the chiral-imine-induced diastereoselective aza-MBH reaction was also realized with 90% de. This reaction provides a convenient method for the synthesis of synthetically valuable α-methylene-β-amino ketone or acid derivatives.