Toward efficient asymmetric hydrogenation: architectural and functional engineering of chiral molecular catalysts.
Asymmetric hydrogenation uses inexpensive, clean hydrogen gas and a very small amount of a chiral molecular catalyst, providing the most powerful way to produce a wide array of enantio-enriched compounds in a large quantity without forming any waste. The recent revolutionary advances in this field have entirely changed the synthetic approach to producing performance chemicals that require a high degree of structural precision. The means of developing efficient asymmetric hydrogenations is discussed from a mechanistic point of view.
Noyori
Ryoji
R
Department of Chemistry and Research Center for Materials Science, Nagoya University, Chikusa, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan. noyori@chem3.chem.nagoya-u.ac.jp
Kitamura
Masato
M
Ohkuma
Takeshi
T