Homogeneous chiral catalyst discovery

The synthesis of cationic rhodium complexes constitutes another important contribution of the late 1960s. The preparation of cationic complexes of formula [Rh(diene)(PR3)2]+ was reported by several laboratories in the period 1968-1970 [17, 18]. Osborn and coworkers made the important discovery that these complexes, when treated with molecular hydrogen, yield [RhH2(PR3)2(S)2]+ (S = sol-vent). These rhodium(III) complexes function as homogeneous hydrogenation catalysts under mild conditions for the reduction of alkenes, dienes, alkynes, and ketones [17, 19]. Related complexes with chiral diphosphines have been very important in modern enantioselective catalytic hydrogenations (see Section 1.1.6). 

Following Wilkinson s discovery of [RhCl(PPh3)3] as an homogeneous hydrogenation catalyst for unhindered alkenes [14b, 35], and the development of methods to prepare chiral phosphines by Mislow [36] and Horner [37], Knowles [38] and Horner [15, 39] each showed that, with the use of optically active tertiary phosphines as ligands in complexes of rhodium, the enantioselective asymmetric hydrogenation of prochiral C=C double bonds is possible (Scheme 1.8). 

A classical example is the development of soluble chiral catalysts for homogenous asymmetric hydrogenation. The story began with the discovery of Wilkinson s catalyst [4]. In 1968, Horner [5] and Knowles [6], independently, reported the feasibility of asymmetric hydrogenations in the presence of optically active Wilkinson-type catalyst. Although the optical yields were rather low, further studies in this direction were the basis of the success of Monsanto s asymmetric synthesis of the anti-Parkinson s drug L-DOPA. The key steps of the synthesis are outlined in Scheme 11.1. 

Wilkinson s (I) discovery that the soluble rhodium(I) phosphine complex, [Rh(PPh3)3Cl], was capable of homogeneous catalytic hydrogenation of olefins immediately set off efforts at modifying the system for asymmetric synthesis. This was made possible by the parallel development of synthetic methods for obtaining chiral tertiary phosphines by Horner (2) and Mislow (3,4, 5). Almost simultaneously, Knowles (6) and Horner (7) published their results on the reduction of atropic acid (6), itaconic acid (6), a-ethylstyrene (7) and a-methoxystyrene (7). Both used chiral methylphenyl-n-propyl-phosphine coordinated to rhodium(I) as the catalyst. The optical yields were modest, ranging from 3 to 15%. 

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