Air-stable catalysts for highly efficient and enantioselective hydrogenation of aromatic ketones.
A series of chiral trans-[RuCl(2)(dipyridylphosphine)(1,2-diamine)] complexes have been synthesized and characterized by NMR and single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies. These Ru complexes combined with (CH(3))(3)COK in 2-propanol formed a very effective catalyst system for the hydrogenation of a diverse range of simple aromatic ketones with high activity (substrate-to-catalyst ratio up to 100 000) and excellent enantioselectivity (up to >99.9%). The catalyst system was also found to be stable in solution even under a normal atmosphere.
Wu
Jing
J
Open Laboratory of Chirotechnology of the Institute of Molecular Technology for Drug Discovery and Synthesis, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
Chen
Hua
H
Kwok
Waihim
W
Guo
Rongwei
R
Zhou
Zhongyuan
Z
Yeung
Chihung
C
Chan
Albert S C
AS