New chiral thiophene-salen chromium complexes for the asymmetric Henry reaction.

Chiral thiophene-salen chromium complexes were investigated in their monomeric form as soluble catalysts in the enantioselective Henry reaction of several aldehydes. The anodic polymerization of one complex led to an insoluble powder that was successfully used as a heterogeneous catalyst for the transformation of 2-methoxybenzaldehyde with enantiomeric excesses up to 77%. The polymerized catalyst was recovered and also recycled in an original multisubstrate procedure.