Enantioselective hydrogenation aromatic ketones

Chitosan (Fig. 27) was deposited on sihca by precipitation. The palladium complex was shown to promote the enantioselective hydrogenation of ketones [80] with the results being highly dependent on the structure of the substrate. In the case of aromatic ketones, both yield and enantioselectiv-ity depend on the N/Pd molar ratio. Low palladium contents favored enan-tioselectivity but reduced the yield. Very high conversions were obtained with aliphatic ketones, although with modest enantioselectivities. More recently, the immobilized chitosan-Co complex was described as a catalyst for the enantioselective hydration of 1-octene [81]. Under optimal conditions, namely Co content 0.5 mmolg and 1-octene/Co molar ratio of 50, a 98% yield and 98% ee were obtained and the catalyst was reused five times without loss of activity or enantioselectivity. 

A mthenium hydrogenation catalyst prepared by the reaction of RuCl2[(/ ,/ )-BICP](TMEDA) with (/ ,/ )-1,2-diphenylethylenediamine has been shown to hydrogenate aromatic ketones in the presence of potassium hydroxide with high enantioselectivity (eq 5). The catalyst provides enantioselectivities that range from 41-93% ee which are generally 10-20% lower than the selectivities previously reported... 

More recently, the same type of hgand was used to form chiral iridium complexes, which were used as catalysts in the hydrogenation of ketones. The inclusion of hydrophihc substituents in the aromatic rings of the diphenylethylenediamine (Fig. 23) allowed the use of the corresponding complexes in water or water/alcohol solutions [72]. This method was optimized in order to recover and reuse the aqueous solution of the catalyst after product extraction with pentane. The combination of chiral 1,2-bis(p-methoxyphenyl)-N,M -dimethylethylenediamine and triethyleneglycol monomethyl ether in methanol/water was shown to be the best method, with up to six runs with total acetophenone conversion and 65-68% ee. Only in the seventh run did the yield and the enantioselectivity decrease slightly. 

On the other hand, one of the first chiral sulfur-containing ligands employed in the asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of ketones was introduced by Noyori el al Thus, the use of A-tosyl-l,2-diphenylethylenediamine (TsDPEN) in combination with ruthenium for the reduction of various aromatic ketones in the presence of i-PrOH as the hydrogen donor, allowed the corresponding alcohols to be obtained in both excellent yields and enantioselectivities, as... 

In enantioselective hydrogenation of aromatic ketones, a catalytic system consisting of [RuC12-(BINAP)(dmf)ra], a chiral diamine such as (,S, S )-DPFN and KOH in a 1 1 2 ratio, affords the R alcohol with 97% ee and quantitative yield (Equation (lO)) 104... 

Most catalysts originally developed for C=C bonds show a rather poor performance for the hydrogenation of many ketones. However, this situation changed dramatically when it was found that selected Ru-binap and later Ru-binap-dia-mine complexes achieve excellent enantioselectivities, as well as very high TONs and TOFs, for a variety of ketones [92]. Since then, it has been demonstrated that many a- and yS-functionalized, as well as aromatic ketones, are suitable substrates for hydrogenation with industrially viable catalytic results. For the reduction of various ketones biocatalytic methods are an industrially viable alternative to chemocatalysts [15]. 

As shown in Figure 1.26, a chiral Sm(III) complex catalyzes asymmetric reduction of aromatic ketones in 2-propanol with high enantioselectivity. Unlike other late-transition-metal catalysis, the hydrogen at C2 of 2-propanol directly migrates onto the carbonyl carbon of substrate via a six-membered transition state 26A, as seen in the Meerwein-Ponndorf-Verley reduction. ... 

The asymmetric hydrogenation of unfunctionalized ketones is a much more challenging task than that of functionalized ketones [3 j, 115]. Many chiral catalysts which are effective for functionalized ketones do not provide useful levels of enantioselectivity for unfunctio-nalized ketones, due to a lack of secondary coordination to the metal center. Zhang demonstrated the enantioselective hydrogenation of simple aromatic and aliphatic ketones using the electron-donating diphosphane PennPhos, which has a bulky, rigid and well-defined chiral backbone, in the presence of 2,6-lutidine and potassium bromide [36]. 

Aromatic Ketones The DIOP-Rh [116] and DBPP-Rh [117] complexes, in conjunction with a tertiary amine, have been employed in the asymmetric hydrogenation of acetophenone, albeit with moderate enantioselectivity (80 and 82% respectively Tab. 1.10). The asymmetric hydrogenation of aromatic ketones was significantly improved by using the Me-PennPhos-Rh complex, with which enantioselectivities of up to 96% ee were achieved [36]. Interestingly, the additives 2,6-lutidine and potassium bromide were again found to be crucial for optimum selectivity, although their specific role has not been determined. 

Remarkable activity and enantioselectivity in asymmetric hydrogenation of aromatic ketones were reported when ionic liquids were used as solvents for a rhodacarborane catalyst precursor having an alkene ligand, [closo-l,3 p-(ri -3-CH2= CHCH2CH2) -3-H-3-PPh3-3,l,2-RhC2B9Hio] 215). In ionic liquids... 

Ohkuma, T, OokaH., Hashiguchi, S., Ikariya, T. andNoyori, R. Practical Enantioselective Hydrogenation of Aromatic Ketones. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1995, 117, 2675-2616. 

The enantioselective hydrogenation of olefins, ketones and imines still represents an important topic and various highly enantioselective processes based on chiral Rh, Ru or Ir complexes have been reported. However, most of these catalysts failed to give satisfactory results in the asymmetric hydrogenation of aromatic and heteroaromatic compounds and examples of efficient catalysts are rare. This is especially the case for the partial reduction of quinoline derivatives which provide 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinolines, important synthetic intermediates in the preparation of pharmaceutical and agrochemical products. Additionally, many alkaloid natural products consist of this stmctural key element. 

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