Assignment of the Crystal Structure to the Aza -Pinacol Coupling Product by X-ray Diffraction and Density Functional Theory Modeling.

Aza -pinacol coupling of N -benzyl-1-phenylmethanimine using Zn dust affords a mixture of R , S- or R , R -diastereomers in a 1:1 ratio. The R , S -diastereomer is solid with an m.p. of 135 °C, while the R , R- diastereomer is liquid at room temperature. The configuration of stereocenters was determined by combining X-ray powder diffraction and density functional theory (DFT) modeling.