BINAP ligands, Noyori catalytic asymmetric hydrogenation

The discovery by the recent Nobel-laureate, Ryoji Noyori, of asymmetric hydrogenation of simple ketones to alcohols catalyzed by raras-RuCl2[(S)-binap][(S,S)-dpen] (binap = [l,l -binaphthalene-2,2/-diyl-bis(diphenylphosphane)] dpen = diphenylethylenediamine) is remarkable in several respects (91). The reaction is quantitative within hours, gives enantiomeric excesses (ee) up to 99%, shows high chemoselecti-vity for carbonyl over olefin reduction, and the substrate-to-catalyst ratio is >100,000. Moreover, the non-classical metal-ligand bifunctional catalytic cycle is mechanistically novel and involves heterolytic... 

Homogeneous catalytic asymmetric hydrogenation has become one of the most efficient methods for the synthesis of chiral alcohols, amines, a and (3-amino acids, and many other important chiral intermediates. Specifically, catalytic asymmetric hydrogenation methods developed by Professor Ryoji Noyori are highly selective and efficient processes for the preparation of a wide variety of chiral alcohols and chiral a-amino acids.3 The transformation utilizes molecular hydrogen, BINAP (2,2 -bis(diphenylphosphino)-l,l -binaphthyl) ligand and ruthenium(II) or rhodium(I) transition metal to reduce prochiral ketones 1 or olefins 2 to their corresponding alcohols 3 or alkanes 4, respectively.4... 

The principles of directed and asynunetric reactions were first developed for hydrogenation, as discussed in Section 9.2. Asymmetric hydrosilation of ketones can now be carried out catalytically with rhodium complexes of diop (9.22). The widely used chiral ligand Et-duPHOS, made by Burk at du Pont, allows chiral amination of ketones via Eq. 14.50. Note how the use of the hydrazone generates an amide carbonyl to act as a ligand, as is known to favor high e.e. (see Section 9.2). Noyori s powerful BINAP ligand has been applied to a very large number of asymmetric reactions. 

The first place in catalytic hydrogenation nowadays is taken by Rh or Ru complexes of BINAP. This ligand has axial chirality as the naphthalene rings cannot rotate past each other. These compounds were developed by Noyori, who with Knowles and Sharpless received the 2001 Nobel prize for their contributions to asymmetric synthesis. BINAP 20 is usually made from BINOL 19 and either 19 or 20 can be resolved. Rhodium complexes similar to those we have met include a molecule of cyclooctadiene and, as these are Rh(I) compounds, a counterion, often triflate 21. Both enantiomers of BINAP are available commercially.8... 

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