New chiral diamines were prepared, based on the cyclohexane diamine core. The two different substituents on each nitrogen allow this heteroatom to become a stereogenic center upon chelation with a metal, such as lithium. The enantioselective addition of MeLi to imines. with ee's up to 68%, illustrates the validity of this concept. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.