(Salen)ruthenium-Catalyzed Desymmetrization of Meso-Diols: Catalytic Aerobic Asymmetric Oxidation under Photo-Irradiation

Abstract
Catalytic aerobic oxidation of meso-diols using (nitrosyl)Ru(salen) 7 as the catalyst under photo-irradiation proceeded with moderate enantioselectivity (up to 67% ee) to give the corresponding lactols.