Acyclic N-Alkylimines

The presence of a heteroatom directly connected to the nitrogen atom of the imine activates it toward hydrogenation, while creating a second coordination site for the catalyst. Indeed, some successful results have been achieved for the hydrogenation of N-acylhydrazone, sulfonimide, and N-diphenylphosphinyl ketimines. The Et-DuPhos-Rh complex is an efficient catalyst for the asymmetric hydrogenation of a variety of N-acyl-  

Asymmetric catalytic hydrogenation is unquestionably one of the most significant transformations for academic and industrial-scale synthesis. The development of tunable chiral phosphorous ligands, and of their ability to control enantioselectivity and reactivity, has allowed asymmetric catalytic hydrogenation to become a reaction of unparalleled versatility and synthetic utility. This is exemplified in the ability to prepare en-antiomerically enriched intermediates from prochiral olefins, ketones, and imines through asymmetric hydrogenation, which has been exploited in industry for the synthesis of enantiomerically enriched drugs and fine chemicals. 

1 (a) Y. IzuMi, A. Tai Stereo-Differentiating Reactions The Nature of Asymmetric Reactions Academic Press New York, 1977. 

Herrmann, Eds. Applied Homogeneous Catalysis with Organometallic Compounds VCH Weinheim, 1996 Vol. 1, p. 2. 

Pfaltz, H. Yamamoto, Eds. Comprehensive Asymmetric Catalysis Springer Berlin, 1999 Vols. 1-3. (j) 1. Ojima, Ed. Catalytic Asymmetric Synthesis Wiley-VCH New York, 2000. 

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