Air-stable catalysts for highly efficient and enantioselective hydrogenation of aromatic ketones

摘要

A series of chiral trans-[RuCl 2(dipyridylphosphine)(1,2-diamine)] complexes have been synthesized and characterized by NMR and single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies. These Ru complexes combined with (CH 3) 3COK in 2-propanol formed a very effective catalyst system for the hydrogenation of a diverse range of simple aromatic ketones with high activity (substrate-to-catalyst ratio up to 100 000) and excellent enantioselectivity (up to 99.9%). The catalyst system was also found to be stable in solution even under a normal atmosphere.