4,4‘-Disubstituted BINAPs for Highly Enantioselective Ru-Catalyzed Asymmetric Hydrogenation of Ketones

A 13-million turnover-number anionic Ir-catalyst for a selective industrial route to chiral nicotine

Developing catalysts with both useful enantioselectivities and million turnover numbers (TONs) for asymmetric hydrogenation of ketones is attractive for industrial production of high-value bioactive chiral entities but remains a challenging. Herein, we report an ultra-efficient anionic Ir-catalyst integrated with the concept of multidentate ligation for asymmetric hydrogenation of ketones. Biocatalysis-like efficacy of up to 99% ee (enantiomeric excess), 13,425,000 TON (turnover number) and 224 s^-1 TOF (turnover frequency) were documented for benchmark acetophenone. Up to 1,000,000 TON and 99% ee were achieved for challenging pyridyl alkyl ketone where at most 10,000 TONs are previously reported. The anionic Ir-catalyst showed a novel preferred ONa/MH instead of NNa/MH bifunctional mechanism. A selective industrial route to enantiopure nicotine has been established using this anionic Ir-catalyst for the key asymmetric hydrogenation step at 500 kg batch scale, providing 40 tons scale of product.

Backbone-Modified C2-Symmetrical Chiral Bisphosphine TMS-QuinoxP*: Asymmetric Borylation of Racemic Allyl Electrophiles

A new C₂-symmetrical P-chirogenic bisphosphine ligand with silyl substituents on the ligand backbone, (R,R)-5,8-TMS-QuinoxP*, has been developed. This ligand showed higher reactivity and enantioselectivity for the direct enantioconvergent borylation of cyclic allyl electrophiles than its parent ligand, (R,R)-QuinoxP* (e.g., for a piperidine-type substrate: 95% ee vs 76% ee). The borylative kinetic resolution of linear allyl electrophiles was also achieved using (R,R)-5,8-TMS-QuinoxP* (up to 90% ee, s = 46.4). An investigation into the role of the silyl groups on the ligand backbone using X-ray crystallography and computational studies displayed interlocking structures between the phosphine and silyl moieties of (R,R)-5,8-TMS-QuinoxP*. The results of DFT calculations revealed that the entropy effect thermodynamically destabilizes the dormant dimer species in the catalytic cycle to improve the reactivity. Furthermore, in the direct enantioconvergent case, detailed calculations indicated a pronounced enantioselective recognition of carbon-carbon double bonds, which is virtually unaffected by the chirality at the allylic position, as a key for the borylation from both enantiomers of racemic allyl electrophiles.

Recent advances in the application of chiral phosphine ligands in Pd-catalysed asymmetric allylic alkylation

One of the most powerful approaches for the formation of simple and complex chiral molecules is the metal-catalysed asymmetric allylic alkylation. This reaction has been broadly studied with a great variety of substrates and nucleophiles under different reaction conditions and it has promoted the synthesis of new chiral ligands to be evaluated as asymmetric inductors. Although the mechanism as well as the active species equilibria are known, the performance of the catalytic system depends on the fine tuning of factors such as type of substrate, nucleophile nature, reaction medium, catalytic precursor and type of ligand used. Particularly interesting are chiral phosphines which have proved to be effective asymmetric inductors in several such reactions. The present review covers the application of phosphine-donor ligands in Pd-catalysed asymmetric allylic alkylation in the last decade.

Novel hydrido-ruthenium(ii) complexes with histidine derivatives and their application in the hydrogenation of ketones

The complexes RuHCl((R)-binap)(L-NH2) with L-NH2 = (S)-histidine-Me-ester (1), histamine (3), (S)-histidinol (4) or 1-Me-(S)-histidine-Me-ester (5), and RuHCl((S)-binap)(L-NH(2)) with L-NH2 = (S)-histidine-Me-ester (2) have been prepared in 60-81% overall yields in a one-pot, three-step procedure from the precursor RuCl2(PPh3)3. Their octahedral structures with hydride trans to chloride were deduced from their NMR spectra and confirmed by the results of a single crystal X-ray diffraction study for complex 3. Under H2 and in the presence of KOtBu, complexes 1-5 in 2-propanol form moderately active catalyst precursors for the asymmetric hydrogenation of acetophenone to 1-phenylethanol. Complex 5 is more active and enantioselective than complexes 1-4, allowing complete conversion to 1-phenylethanol in 46% e.e. (R) in 72 h at 20 degrees C under 1 MPa of H2 with substrate : catalyst : base = 2000 : 1 : 30. Complex 5, when activated, also catalyzes the hydrogenation of trans-4-phenyl-3-buten-2-one to exclusively the allyl alcohol 4-phenyl-3-buten-2-ol under 2.7 MPa of H2 at 50 degrees C in 2-propanol. This selectivity for C=O versus C=C hydrogenation is consistent with a mechanism involving the outer sphere transfer of hydride and proton to the polar bond. Further extensions to complexes with peptides with N-terminal histidine groups appear feasible on the basis of the current work.

Vinyl ketones to allenes: preparation of 1,3-dien-2-yl triflates and their application in Pd-catalyzed reactions with soft nucleophiles

[chemical reaction: see text]. A general route of converting alkenyl ketones to functionalized allenes was developed. Substituted 1,3-dien-2-yl triflates, which were prepared from the alkenyl ketones via silyl dienol ethers, were excellent substrates for the palladium-catalyzed reaction with soft nucleophiles giving the multisubstituted allenes in high yields. Comparison between the dienyl triflates and analogous bromodienes in the Pd-catalyzed reaction was studied as well.