L-Selectride-Mediated Highly Diastereoselective Asymmetric Reductive Aldol Reaction: Access to an Important Subunit for Bioactive Molecules

L-Selectride reduction of a chiral or achiral enone followed by reaction of the resulting enolate with optically active alpha-alkoxy aldehydes proceeded with excellent diastereoselectivity. The resulting alpha,alpha-dimethyl-beta-hydroxy ketones are inherent to a variety of biologically active natural products.