Transfer Hydrogenation Combined with Other Transformations

Transfer Hydrogenation Combined with Other Transformations 

The combination of organocatalysis and metal catalysis in one pot provides high efficiency in organic synthesis [34]. Combination catalysis usually leads to a cascade reaction, in which each step is catalyzed by a certain catalyst, either an organocatalyst or a metal catalyst. The key to designing such catalysis is that both the metal catalyst and organocatalyst should tolerate each other when they catalyze different types of reactions. 

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Transfer Hydrogenation Combined with Other Transformations... 

Other examples include OKR of racemic secondary alcohols (Scheme 25A), oxidative desymmetrizations of meso-diols, etc. The kinetic resolution is generally defined as a process where two enantiomers of a racemic mixture are transformed to products at different rates. Thus, one of the enantiomers of the racemate is selectively transformed to product, whereas the other is left behind. This method allows to reach a maximum of 50% yield of the enantiopure remaining sec-alcohol. To overcome this fim-itation, a modification of the method, namely dynamic kinetic resolution (DKR), was introduced. In this case, the kinetic resolution method is combined with a racemization process, where enantiomers are interconverted while one of them is consumed (e.g., by esterification. Scheme 25B). Therefore, a 100% theoretical yield of one enantiomer can be reached due to the constant equifibrium shift. In most of the proposed DKR processes, several catalytic systems, e.g., enzymes and transition-metal catalysts, work together. Both reactions (transfer hydrogenation of ketones and the reverse oxidation of secondary alcohols using ketone as a hydrogen acceptor) can be promoted by a catalyst. The process can involve a temporary oxidation of a substrate with hydrogen transfer to a transition-metal complex. 

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