title: Chiral N-heterocyclic carbene/pyridine ligands for the iridium-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of olefins.
abstract: Swapping N,P for C,N: Iridium complexes of bidentate pyridine-based C,N ligands with an N-heterocylic carbene (NHC) unit proved to be efficient and highly enantioselective hydrogenation catalysts. As a result of the lower acidity of iridium hydride intermediates produced from NHC-based complexes, these catalysts are much better suited than analogous N,P-ligand complexes for the hydrogenation of acid-sensitive substrates.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Basel, 4056 Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schumacher
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bernasconi
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pfaltz
keywords: N heterocyclic carbene; alkenes; asymmetric catalysis; hydrogenation; iridium