Asymmetric Hydrogenations (Nobel Lecture)

The start of the development of catalysts for asymmetric hydrogenation was the concept of replacing the triphenylphosphane ligand of the Wilkinson catalyst with a chiral ligand. With the new catalysts, it should be possible to hydrogenate prochiral olefins. Knowles and his co‐workers were convinced that the phosphorus atom played a central role in this selectivity, as only chiral phosphorus ligands such as (R,R)‐DIPAMP, whose stereogenic center lies directly on the phosphorus atom, lead to high enantiomeric excesses when used as catalysts in asymmetric hydrogenation reactions. This hypothesis was disproven by the development of ligands with chiral carbon backbones. Although the exact mechanism of action of the phosphane ligands is not incontrovertibly determined to this day, they provide a simple entry to a large number of chiral compounds.     

Self-supported chiral catalysts for heterogeneous enantioselective reactions

The development of heterogeneous chiral catalysts for enantioselective reactions is highly desirable in order to overcome some drawbacks of homogeneous catalysts. Different from the conventional approaches by using various types of supports or biphasic systems for the recovery and reuse of homogeneous catalysts, a conceptually new strategy for heterogenization of homogeneous chiral catalysts, that is, a "self-supporting" approach, has been developed to use homochiral metal-organic coordination polymers generated by the self-assembly of chiral multitopic ligands with metal ions, and thus obviates the use of any support. In this concept article, the success of this "self-supporting" strategy will be exemplified in heterogeneous catalysis of asymmetric carbonyl-ene, sulfoxidation, epoxidation, and asymmetric hydrogenation reactions.     

金属催化的不对称氢化反应研究进展与展望

手性过渡金属络合物催化的不对称氢化反应是合成光学活性化合物的重要方法. 本文从手性配体及手性催化剂、不对称催化新反应、新方法和新策略三个方面简要评述新世纪以来过渡金属催化的不对称氢化反应研究领域的新进展. 从新世纪初至今, 手性单磷配体得到了复兴, 出现了如MonoPhos、SiPhos、DpenPhos等高效单齿亚磷酰胺酯配体; 磷原子手性(P-手性)配体也得到了快速发展, 如BenzP*、ZhanPhos、TriFer等已成为新的高效手性双膦配体; 螺环骨架手性配体成为新世纪手性配体设计合成的亮点, 除了SiPhos、SIPHOX、SpinPHOX等高效手性螺环配体外, 手性螺环吡啶胺基磷配体SpiroPAP的铱催化剂成为目前最高效的分子催化剂. 不对称催化氢化新反应研究也取得了突破, 如非保护烯胺、杂芳环化合物及N-H亚胺的氢化等反应都实现了高对映选择性. 自组装手性催化剂、树枝状手性催化剂、铁磁性纳米负载的可回收手性催化剂, 以及“混合”配体手性催化剂等新方法和新策略也在不对称催化氢化反应中得到了应用. 然而, 手性过渡金属络合物催化的不对称氢化研究仍然充满挑战, 也期待新的突破.     

Rhodium Catalysts for Enantioselective Hydrosilylation—A New Concept in the Development of Asymmetric Catalysts

Following a survey of the asymmetric hydrogenation of prochiral olefins with transition metal/phosphane catalysts, the problem of chirality transfer from the optically active ligands of the catalyst to the substrate is discussed. A new concept for this chirality transfer is introduced; the conformational analysis of model compounds as well as the development of catalysts for enantioselective hydrosilylation demonstrate the usefulness of this concept.     

Chiral monodentate phosphorus ligands for rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation

This review reports the recent developments in the field of asymmetric hydrogenation in the presence of metal catalysts containing monodentate phosphorus ligands. Besides monophosphines, that have been used at the origin of asymmetric hydrogenation, it mainly includes the use of monophosphites and monophosphoramidites, which when associated to rhodium precursors have recently led to very efficient enantioselective catalytic systems.     

Asymmetric Synthesis and Application of Chiral Spirosilabiindanes

Reported here is the development of a class of chiral spirosilabiindane scaffolds by Rh‐catalyzed asymmetric double hydrosilation, for the first time. Enantiopure SPSiOL (spirosilabiindane diol), a new type of chiral building block for the preparation of various chiral ligands and catalysts, was readily prepared on greater than 10 gram scale using this protocol. The potential of this new spirosilabiindane scaffold in asymmetric catalysis was preliminarily demonstrated by development of the corresponding monodentate phosphoramidite ligands (SPSiPhos), which were used in both a Rh‐catalyzed hydrogenation and a Pd‐catalyzed intramolecular carboamination.     

Catalytic asymmetric transformations with fine-tunable biphenol-based monodentate ligands

A library of new fine-tunable monodentate phosphite and phosphoramidite ligands based on chiral biphenol have been designed and developed. These monodentate phosphorus ligands have exhibited excellent enantioselectivity in the Pd-catalyzed asymmetric allylic alkylation and Rh-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation.     

Mixtures of chiral and achiral monodentate ligands in asymmetric Rh-catalyzed olefin hydrogenation: reversal of enantioselectivity

The recently described method of combinatorial asymmetric transition metal catalysis based on the use of mixtures of chiral monodentate P-ligands has been extended to include mixtures of chiral and achiral monodentate P-ligands, reversal of enantioselectivity in Rh-catalyzed olefin hydrogenation being possible in appropriate cases.     

Hydrogen bonding makes a difference in the rhodium-catalyzed enantioselective hydrogenation using monodentate phosphoramidites

A new generation of monodentate phosphoramidite ligands bearing a primary amine moiety was found to display comparable or better efficiency than bisphosphines in the Rh-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of challenging substrates, such as (Z)-methyl alpha-acetoxyacrylate or (E)-beta-aryl itaconate derivatives, affording the corresponding hydrogenation products with excellent enantioselectivities (up to >99% ee). The presence of intermolecular hydrogen bonding (HB) between two monodentate ligands in the catalyst was found to be critical for excellent catalyst performance. This finding provides a basis for design and development of further catalyst systems using this type of monodentate phosphoramidite ligands.     

Synthesis of Novel Monodentate Phosphoramidites and Their Application in Iridium‐Catalyzed Asymmetric Hydrogenations

New monodentate H₈‐binaphthol based phosphoramidites 6 b–i have been prepared. Starting from (S)‐3,3′‐dibromo‐5,5′,6,6′,7,7′,8,8′‐octahydro‐1,1′‐binaphthyl‐2,2′‐diol 3 , a general protocol for the synthesis of ligands 6 is presented. A small ligand library bearing aryl substituents in the 3,3′‐position of the binaphthol core was synthesized and successfully tested in the iridium‐catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of 2‐amidocinnamates to obtain different α‐amino acid derivatives in up to 99 % ee.     

Asymmetric Hydrogenation Using Rhodium Complexes Generated from Mixtures of Monodentate Neutral and Anionic Phosphorus Ligands

A series of monodentate neutral and anionic phosphorus ligands was synthesized and evaluated in the asymmetric rhodium‐catalyzed hydrogenation of functionalized olefins by using either catalysts containing identical ligands or catalysts generated from mixtures of two different ligands. We expected that the combination of an anionic ligand with a neutral ligand would favor the formation of hetero over homo bis‐ligand complexes due to charge repulsion. NMR spectroscopic studies confirmed that charge effects can indeed shift the equilibrium toward the hetero bis‐ligand complexes. In several cases, the combination of a neutral phosphane with an anionic phosphane, one chiral and the other achiral, furnished significantly higher enantioselectivities than analogous mixtures of two neutral ligands. The best results were obtained with a mixture of an anionic phosphoramidite and a neutral phosphoric acid diester. It is supposed that in this case a hydrogen bond between the two ligands additionally stabilizes the hetero ligand combination.     

Combinatorial and Evolution-Based Methods in the Creation of Enantioselective Catalysts

Combinatorial methods in the development of enantioselective homogeneous catalysts constitute a new branch of catalysis research. The goal is to prepare libraries of potential asymmetric catalysts, rather than choosing the traditional one-catalyst-at-a-time approach. Several conceptional advancements have been reported in the parallel preparation of chiral ligands. Currently the most meaningful systems constitute modularly constructed ligands on solid supports, which allow high degrees of structural diversity and thus the maximum probability of finding enantioselective catalysts or even new types of ligands for asymmetric catalysis. Search strategies have been developed which amongst other things, lead to catalysts not likely to have been discovered by traditional methods. Genuine application of such strategies involve thousands of catalysts and require high-throughput screening systems capable of assaying enantioselectivity. The first high-throughput ee-screening systems were in fact developed for use in the directed evolution of enantioselective enzymes, a process based on "evolution in the test tube" in which the appropriate methods of random mutagenesis, gene expression, and ee assays are combined. Since no screening system is likely to be universal, different approaches are necessary. Thus far these include assays based on UV/Vis, fluorescence, circular dichroism, mass spectrometry, and even modified gas chromatography as well as special forms of capillary electrophoresis. One of the most efficient systems involves the concept of the mass-spectrometric detection of deuterium-labeled pseudo-enantiomers and pseudo-prochiral compounds with which about 1000 exact ee determinations can be achieved per day, although the assay is restricted to kinetic resolution and/or reactions of prochiral compounds bearing enantiotopic groups. Super-high-throughput screening for enantioselectivity is possible in many cases by making use of chirally modified capillary array electrophoresis in a parallel step. Accordingly, 7000 to 30 000 ee determinations can be carried out per day. These and other analytical developments are expected to stimulate further research in the combinatorial search for asymmetric homogeneous catalysts and in the directed evolution of enantioselective enzymes for use in organic chemistry.     

Supramolecular approaches to generate libraries of chelating bidentate ligands for homogeneous catalysis

The process of catalyst discovery and development relying on combinatorial methods has suffered so far from the difficult access to structurally diverse and large libraries of ligands, in particular the structurally more complex class of bidentate ligands. A completely new approach to streamline the difficult ligand synthesis process is to use structurally less complex monodentate ligands that self-assemble in the coordination sphere of a metal center through noncovalent attractive ligand-ligand interactions to generate bidentate, chelating ligands. When complementary attractive ligand-ligand interactions are employed, it is even possible to generate libraries of defined chelate-ligand catalysts by simply mixing two different monomeric ligands. This Minireview summarizes the first approaches and results in this new field of combinatorial homogeneous catalysis.     

Imine hydrogenation catalyzed by iridium complexes comprising monodentate chiral phosphoramidites and N-donor ligands

The relatively inexpensive chiral monodentate phosphoramidite (S)-MONOPHOS may be used in combination with pyridines to prepare iridium complexes effective for catalysis of asymmetric imine hydrogenation with comparable enantioselectivity to some of those containing more costly chiral bidentate phosphines. [Ir(cod)((S)-MONOPHOS)(L)]BArF (cod = 1,5-cyclooctadiene; L = 3-methylisoquinoline, acridine, 2,6-lutidine, acetonitrile, or 2,3,3-trimethylindolenine; BArF = tetrakis[3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]borate) are efficient catalysts for the asymmetric hydrogenation of 2,3,3-trimethylindolenine. An important observation is that the catalyst containing acridine is more enantioselective than the catalyst derived from 2,3,3-trimethylindolenine which suggests that the other N-donor ligands are not readily displaced by the substrate during the catalytic cycle.     

Recent topics of transfer hydrogenation

A number of transition metal catalysts have been developed for transfer hydrogenation of organic molecules. This method provides a useful process for the reduction of unsaturated molecules without the need for explosive hydrogen gas. An important development in this area is the design of new ligands that improve activity and selectivity under mild reaction conditions. Polydentate ligands are good candidates for producing high performance metal catalysts. This digest describes recent developments in transfer hydrogenation as well as asymmetric reactions using metal catalysts containing polydentate ligand systems.     

Asymmetric iridium-catalyzed hydrogenation of 2-methylindole using phosphite ligands

The iridium-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of 2-methylindole using monodentate phosphites and amidophosphites as ligands was examined. The use of iodine as the additive resulted in increased enantioselectivity and conversion in the iridium-catalyzed hydrogenation of 2-methylindole. Full conversion and up to 80% ee were obtained with a catalyst based on a phosphite ligand.     

Highly enantioselective synthesis of terutroban key intermediate via asymmetric hydrogenation

A chiral (R) key intermediate of the biologically active form of terutroban has been prepared by asymmetric hydrogenation. The catalysts are based on very easily accessible ruthenium complexes modified by chiral phosphorous ligands. The use of the chiral catASium^®T ligands family allowed us to realize this transformation efficiently in terms of yield and enantioselectivity (ee up to 92%) with high substrate/catalyst ratios.     

Dendritic phosphoramidite ligands in Rh-catalysed asymmetric hydrogenations

The axially chiral BICOL backbone was functionalised with two third generation carbosilane dendritic wedges and further elaborated to a phosphoramidite ligand. High enantioselectivities were obtained when these monodentate ligands were applied in the rhodium-catalysed asymmetric hydrogenation of methyl 2-acetamidocinnamate.     

Reverse-flow adsorption for process-integrated recycling of homogeneous transition-metal catalysts

Supramolecular strategies, based on hydrogen bonds and ionic interactions, were investigated as tools for the recovery and recycling of homogeneous transition-metal catalysts by using reverse-flow adsorption (RFA) technology. The association (in solution) and adsorption (on support) of new functionalized host materials and phosphine guest ligands, functionalized with the complementary binding motifs, were fine-tuned for the application of these materials in a RFA reactor. The RFA technology for process-integrated recycling of homogeneous catalysts using these tailor-made phosphine ligands and silica-supported host materials resulted in a stable, semicontinuous catalytic system. Rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of methyl acetamidoacrylate and asymmetric hydrosilylation of acetophenone were studied as test reactions. Depending on the catalytic process the metal complex could be recycled several times without significant loss in conversion.     

Chloride‐Bridged Dinuclear Rhodium(III) Complexes Bearing Chiral Diphosphine Ligands: Catalyst Precursors for Asymmetric Hydrogenation of Simple Olefins

Efficient rhodium(III) catalysts were developed for asymmetric hydrogenation of simple olefins. A new series of chloride‐bridged dinuclear rhodium(III) complexes 1 were synthesized from the rhodium(I) precursor [RhCl(cod)]₂, chiral diphosphine ligands, and hydrochloric acid. Complexes from the series acted as efficient catalysts for asymmetric hydrogenation of (E)‐prop‐1‐ene‐1,2‐diyldibenzene and its derivatives without any directing groups, in sharp contrast to widely used rhodium(I) catalytic systems that require a directing group for high enantioselectivity. The catalytic system was applied to asymmetric hydrogenation of allylic alcohols, alkenylboranes, and unsaturated cyclic sulfones. Control experiments support the superiority of dinuclear rhodium(III) complexes 1 over typical rhodium(I) catalytic systems.