DiPAMP ligand, amino acid synthesis

The most effective catalysts for enantioselective amino acid synthesis are coordination complexes of rhodium(I) with 1,5-cyclooctadiene (COD) and a chiral diphosphine such as (JR,jR)-l,2-bis(o-anisylphenylphosphino)ethane, the so-called DiPAMP ligand. The complex owes its chirality to the presence of the trisubstituted phosphorus atoms (Section 9.12). 

Perhaps the one major drawback with DIPAMP is the long synthetic sequence required for its preparation, though shorter and cheaper methods are now available [12]. The ligand continues to be a player for the synthesis of amino acid derivatives at scale, including L-Dopa, as mentioned above [12, 25, 27-29]. Its continued use is a testament to the power of the initial discoveries, as well as showing that a chemical catalyst can achieve selectivities only previously seen with enzymes. 

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