Enantioselective hydrogenation functionalized ketones

The enantioselective hydrogenation of ketones which have two heteroatoms on both sides of the carbonyl group tends to give lower enantioselectivity due to the competitive interaction of the functionalities with the catalyst. The extent depends... 

The results clearly show that these novel ligands are able to form a suitable asymmetric enviromnent around the metal resulting in high asymmetric induction. Their catalytic potential has been demonstrated in the highly enantioselective Rh-catalyzed hydrogenation of itaconates and a-enamides and Ru-catalyzed hydrogenation of p-functionalized ketone. 

The hydrogenation of ketones with O or N functions in the a- or / -position is accomplished by several rhodium compounds [46 a, b, e, g, i, j, m, 56], Many of these examples have been applied in the synthesis of biologically active chiral products [59]. One of the first examples was the asymmetric synthesis of pantothenic acid, a member of the B complex vitamins and an important constituent of coenzyme A. Ojima et al. first described this synthesis in 1978, the most significant step being the enantioselective reduction of a cyclic a-keto ester, dihydro-4,4-dimethyl-2,3-furandione, to D-(-)-pantoyl lactone. A rhodium complex derived from [RhCl(COD)]2 and the chiral pyrrolidino diphosphine, (2S,4S)-N-tert-butoxy-carbonyl-4-diphenylphosphino-2-diphenylphosphinomethyl-pyrrolidine ((S, S) -... 

BPPM Scheme 1.17) was used as catalyst [60]. The enantioselective hydrogenation of functionalized ketones was also efficiently achieved by a series of rhodium(I) aminophosphine- and amidophosphine-phosphinite complexes [61]. 

Bppfoh and bppfa derivatives have been applied most successfully for the Rh-catalyzed hydrogenation of dehydro amino acid derivatives such as MAC (ee 97%) and of functionalized ketones [7]. The nature of the amino group has a significant effect on enantioselectivity and often also on activity, and is used to tailor the ligand for a particular substrate. Rh-bppfa complexes were among the first catalysts able to hydrogenate tetrasubstituted C=C bonds, albeit with relatively low activity (Table 25.2, entries 2.1-2.3). Ferrophos, one of the very few li-... 

Ferrocene-based complexes have some potential for the enantioselective reduction of ketones, but compared to other ligand classes this is relatively limited [3]. Rh complexes of bppfa, bophoz and josiphos are among the most selective catalysts for the hydrogenation of a-functionalized ketones (Table 25.9 Fig. 25.18, 30-32). Ru complexes of walphos and ferrotane are quite effective for... 

Rhodium-Catalyzed Enantioselective Hydrogenation of Functionalized Ketones... 

Rhodium-Catalyzed Enantioselective Hydrogenation of Functionalized Ketones 33.3.2.2 a,y-Diketoesters... 

The best studied systems are the Raney Ni/tartaric acid/NaBr combination, for the hydrogenation of / -functionalized ketones, and the Pt- and Pd-on-support/cinchona alkaloid systems for the enantioselective hydrogenation of a-functionalized ketones. 

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]. 

Keto esters are the best functionalized ketone substrates for enan-tioselective hydrogenation. Esters of methyl, primary, secondary, and tertiary alcohols can be used to produce hydroxy esters in high yields, with up to 100% enantioselectivity (Scheme 49) (95). The fact that methyl 2, 2-dimethyl-3-oxobutanoate is hydrogenated in high chemical and optical yields with normal asymmetric orientation implies that the reaction does not necessarily involve the enol. 

Highly enantioselective hydrogenation of functionalized ketones has been achieved with chiral phosphine-Rh(I) and -Ru(II) complexes [1,162], The presence of a functional group close to the carbonyl moiety efficiently accelerates the reaction and also controls the stereochemical outcome. The heteroatom-metal interaction is supposed to effectively stabilize one of the diastereomeric-transition states and/or key intermediates in the hydrogenation. 

---