Purpose of the research was to determine the activity of chiral imine ligands prepared from (1S,2R)-norephedrine for the enantioselective addition of diethylzinc to aldehydes. Imine ligands reveal medium enantioselectivity, with the ee exceeding 30%. The highest ee (97%) was obtained for imine with 9-anthryl substituent, when p-methoxybenzaldehyde was used as substrate. The yields of the reaction obtained after 24-72 h reached 76-96%. The absolute configuration of the addition product depends on the geometry of presented transition states and pi-pi stacking interactions between the investigated ligands and the benzaldehyde substrate. Imine ligands derived 2-hydroxyacetophenone and with 9-anthryl substituent reveal strong absorbance in UV-vis spectra. Intermediates for the imines diethylzinc - based catalysis and probable mechanisms were proposed. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.