Racemic compounds diphosphines

Racemate resolution, 1, 2 Racemic compounds alcohols, 45 chirally labile, 75 computer simulation, 79 diphosphines, 26 dynamic resolution, 75 esters, 309... 

L-Dopa was produced industrially by Hoffrnann-LaRoche, using a modification of the Erlenmeyer synthesis for amino acids. In the 1960s, research at Monsanto focused on increasing the L-Dopa form rather than producing the racemic mixture. A team led by William S. Knowles (1917—) was successful in producing a rhodium-diphosphine catalyst called DiPamp that resulted in a 97.5% yield of L-Dopa when used in the Hoffrnann-LaRoche process. Knowles s work produced the first industrial asymmetric synthesis of a compound. Knowles was awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his work. Work in the last decade has led to green chemistry synthesis processes of L-Dopa using benzene and catechol. 

It was demonstrated that the reaction proceeds without racemisation of the stereogenic phosphorus atom and with total selectivity towards the ( )-alke-nylphosphine oxide. Unexpectedly, it was also possible to dimerise phosphine oxide 109 (with R = Me) with 5% of 112b to obtain the corresponding optically pure ( )-diphosphine oxide in 85% yield. The crystal structure of this compound has been determined by X-ray diffraction and has been used as dipolarophile in 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions with nitrones, yielding several optically pure diphosphine oxides. Similar homometathesis reactions have been investigated in more detail by Grela, Pietrusiewicz, Butenschon and co-workers with other (racemic) substrates such as 109 and different catalysts. Gouverneur and co-workers studied a similar dimerisation of... 

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