Chiral compounds transition metal carbon-hydrogen

Subsequent insertions lead to chain growth. Chain termination takes place by /3-hydrogen transfer to the transition metal atom or to a complex-bound olefin, resulting in formation of the hydride or alkyl transition metal compound in addition to the oligomer. The former allows new insertion steps to occur. The dimers formed do not contain a chiral carbon atom. Optical activity is observed first in trimers and higher oligomers (203,204). 

In recent years there has been much interest in homogeneous hydrogenations catalyzed by transition metal complexes (7). One facet of research in this area is the search for chiral catalysts (catalysts that are dissymmetric, i.e., optically active) that can be used to produce chiral compounds via asymmetric reactions. In this review, we survey asymmetric homogeneous hydrogenation reactions, that is reactions that create asymmetric carbon atoms by the addition of hydrogen across multiple bonds under the influence of soluble chiral catalysts. 

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