A series of vanadium(V) complexes with chiral tridentate Schiff base ligands were prepared. Five-coordinate complexes were obtained by a single condensation of 1S,2R(+)-2-amino-1,2-diphenylethanol with salicylaldehyde and its derivatives. Furthermore, six-coordinate complexes were synthesized with the same Schiff base ligands and also with monoanionic bidentate acetohydroxamate co-ligand. The complexes were characterized by elemental analysis and by their IR, CD, UV-vis, one- (H-1, V-51) and two-dimensional (COSY, gHSQC and NOESY) NMR spectra. The X-ray analyses of the ligand, 1S,2R(+)-2-[(1-hydroxy-1,2-diphenylethyl)iminomethyl]-4-nitrophenol, 7, and its complex, (acetohydroxamato-(KO)-O-2,O'){1S,2R(+)-2-[(1-oxido-1,2-diphenylethyl)iminomethyl]-4-nitrophenolato-(KN)-N-3,O,O'}oxidovanadium(V), 7b, have been also performed. The five-coordinate vanadium(V) complexes have ability to catalyze the oxidation of prochiral sulfides [PhSR (R= Me, Bz)] in good yields and enantiomeric excesses. Moreover, catalytic activity of these complexes and also those derived from 1S,2S(-)-1,2-diphenyl-1,2-diaminoethane were tested in the oxidation of styrene and cyclohexene. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.