title: Iridium-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of unfunctionalized enamines.
abstract: Optically active tertiary amines are readily prepared by iridium-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of unfunctionalized enamines (see scheme). The best enantioselectivities with >90% ee were obtained with N-aryl- and N-benzyl-substituted enamines with a terminal double bond. The hydrogenation of enamines derived from cyclic ketones, which has not been reported yet with other catalysts, gave enantiomeric excesses of up to 87%.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Basel, St. Johanns Ring 19, 4056 Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Alejandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Baeza
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pfaltz
mesh_terms: D000588:Amines / Q000138:chemical synthesis*; D002384:Catalysis; D006865:Hydrogenation; D007495:Iridium / Q000737:chemistry; D015394:Molecular Structure
chemical_list: D000588:Amines; D007495:Iridium