title: Enantioselective iron-catalysed O-H bond insertions.
abstract: The ready availability, low price and environmentally benign character of iron mean that it is an ideal alternative to precious metals in catalysis. Recent growth in the number of iron-catalysed reactions reported reflects an increasing demand for sustainable chemistry. Only a limited number of chiral iron catalysts have been reported and these have, in general, proven less enantioselective than other transition-metal catalysts, thus limiting their appeal. Here, we report that iron complexes of spiro-bisoxazoline ligands are highly efficient catalysts for asymmetric O-H bond insertion reactions. These complexes catalyse insertions into the O-H bond of a wide variety of alcohols and even water, with exceptional enantioselectivities under mild reaction conditions. The selectivities surpass those obtained with other transition-metal catalysts. This study should inspire and encourage the use of iron instead of traditional precious metals in the development of greener catalysts for catalytic asymmetric synthesis.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory and Institute of Elemento-organic Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China.
authors.forename: Shou-Fei
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: Hong-Xiang
authors.initials: HX
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.forename: Jian-Hua
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Qi-Lin
authors.initials: QL
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D002384:Catalysis; D007501:Iron / Q000737:chemistry*; D010100:Oxygen / Q000737:chemistry*; D013237:Stereoisomerism; D028561:Transition Elements / Q000737:chemistry; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D028561:Transition Elements; D014867:Water; D007501:Iron; D010100:Oxygen