In Situ Assembly of a Metal‐Templated Catalyst for Asymmetric Aldol Reactions: From the Metal Complexes Equilibria to a Practical System.

A zinc(II)‐templated catalyst assembling terpyridine and bipyridine organocatalytic ligands has been developed for the asymmetric aldol reaction. The system has been optimized to maximize the formation of the heteromeric bifunctional species through the determination of the equilibrium constants leading to the formation of all the species present. A practical, easy to synthesize catalytic system providing high stereoselectivity has been achieved in this way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]