Magnetically recoverable SiO2-coated Fe3O4 nanoparticles: a new platform for asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of aromatic ketones in aqueous medium

A magnetically recoverable chiral rhodium catalyst exhibited excellent catalytic activity and enantioselectivity in asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of aromatic ketones in aqueous medium, which could be recovered easily via a small magnet and used repetitively ten times without obviously affecting its enantioselectivity.     

Novel recoverable catalysts for asymmetric transfer hydrogenation

9-Amino(9-deoxy)epiquinine and 9-amino(9-deoxy)epicinchonine were applied in asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of aromatic ketones in both iridium and rhodium catalytic systems using i-propanol as the hydrogen source. Good to excellent conversions and enantioselectivities were observed with a variety of aromatic ketones. Moreover, the Ir complex and Rh complex of 9-amino(9-deoxy)cinchonine were recovered in high yields with dilute hydrochloric acid. The enantioselectivity of 1-phenylethanol was nearly maintained after six cycles.     

Highly efficient catalysts derived from planar chiral ferrocenes for asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of ketones

Planar chiral ferrocenes 1 and its diastereoisomer 2 were found to be good lig-ands for the ruthenium catalyzed asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of ketones with i-PrOH as hydrogen source under refluxing in the presence of sodium hydroxide. The results showed that the absolute configuration of alcohol seemed to be governed by the central chirality in the oxazoline ring instead of the planar chirality. At a ratio of 1:2 for Ru:ligand, 3000:1 S/C and >100,000/h-1 TOF were observed for acetophenone. For propiophenone 99% yield and 85% e.e. were obtained     

Highly efficient chiral PNNP ligand for asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of aromatic ketones in water

Chiral PNNP ligand II and [IrHCl₂(COD)]₂ were applied for the first time in the asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of aromatic ketones with HCOONa in water, giving the corresponding optical alcohols in high yield and excellent enantioselectivity (up to 99% ee). Particularly, the reduction of propiophenone proceeded smoothly at a substrate to catalyst molar ratio of 8000, without compromising the ee values obtained.     

Accelerated asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of aromatic ketones in water

Asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of various simple aromatic ketones by the Ru-TsDPEN catalyst was shown to be feasible in aqueous HCOONa without calling for any catalyst modification, furnishing ee's of up to 95% and significantly faster rates than in the HCOOH-NEt(3) azeotrope.     

Enantioswitchable catalysts for the asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of aryl alkyl ketones

A subtle change in the ligand structure, replacing the carbonyl oxygen with sulfur in simple alpha-amino acid amides, resulted in a dramatic activity and selectivity improvement in the rhodium- or ruthenium-catalyzed reduction of ketones under hydrogen transfer conditions. In addition, in most cases, a switch of the product's absolute configuration was observed on going from amides to the corresponding thioamides. Under optimized conditions, we obtained the secondary alcohol products in high yield and enantioselectivity (up to 97% ee) using only 0.25 mol % catalyst loading. [structure: see text]     

Air-stable catalysts for highly efficient and enantioselective hydrogenation of aromatic ketones

A series of chiral trans-[RuCl(2)(dipyridylphosphine)(1,2-diamine)] complexes have been synthesized and characterized by NMR and single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies. These Ru complexes combined with (CH(3))(3)COK in 2-propanol formed a very effective catalyst system for the hydrogenation of a diverse range of simple aromatic ketones with high activity (substrate-to-catalyst ratio up to 100 000) and excellent enantioselectivity (up to >99.9%). The catalyst system was also found to be stable in solution even under a normal atmosphere.     

A modular design of ruthenium(II) catalysts with chiral C2-symmetric phosphinite ligands for effective asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of aromatic ketones

Hydrogen-transfer reduction processes are attracting increasing interest from synthetic chemists in view of their operational simplicity. The new chiral C₂-symmetric ligands N,N′-bis-[(1S)-1-sec-butyl-2-O-(diphenylphosphinite)ethyl]ethanediamide, 1 and N,N′-bis-[(1S)-1-phenyl-2-O-(diphenylphosphinite)ethyl]ethanediamide, 2 and the corresponding ruthenium complexes 3 and 4 have been prepared and their structures have been elucidated by a combination of multi-nuclear NMR spectroscopy, IR spectroscopy, and elemental analysis. ¹H–³¹P NMR, DEPT, ¹H–¹³C HETCOR, or ¹H–¹H COSY correlation experiments were used to confirm the spectral assignments. The catalytic activity of complexes 3 and 4 in transfer hydrogenation of acetophenone derivatives by iso-PrOH has also been studied. Under optimized conditions, these chiral ruthenium complexes serve as catalyst precursors for the asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of acetophenone derivatives in iso-PrOH and act as excellent catalysts, giving the corresponding chiral alcohols in 99% yield and up to 75% ee. This transfer hydrogenation is characterized by low reversibility under these conditions.     

Iron nanoparticles catalyzing the asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of ketones

Investigation into the mechanism of transfer hydrogenation using trans-[Fe(NCMe)CO(PPh(2)C(6)H(4)CH═NCHR-)(2)][BF(4)](2), where R = H (1) or R = Ph (2) (from R,R-dpen), has led to strong evidence that the active species in catalysis are iron(0) nanoparticles (Fe NPs) functionalized with achiral (with 1) and chiral (with 2) PNNP-type tetradentate ligands. Support for this proposition is given in terms of in operando techniques such as a kinetic investigation of the induction period during catalysis as well as poisoning experiments using substoichiometric amounts of various poisoning agents. Further support for the presence of Fe(0) NPs includes STEM microscopy imaging with EDX analysis, XPS analysis, and SQUID magnetometry analysis of catalytic solutions. Further evidence of Fe NPs acting as the active catalyst is given in terms of a polymer-supported substrate experiment whereby the NPs are too large to permeate the pores of a functionalized polymer. Final support is given in terms of a combined poisoning/STEM/EDX experiment whereby the poisoning agent is shown to be bound to the Fe NPs. This paper provides evidence of a rare example of asymmetric catalysis with nonprecious metal, zerovalent nanoparticles.     

Magnetically recoverable osmium catalysts for dihydroxylation of olefins

We prepared magnetically recoverable osmium catalysts by use of magnetite, quaternary ammonium salts, and potassium osmate(VI), and applied them to the dihydroxylation of olefins. By employing 2 mol% of the magnetic osmium catalyst, the dihydroxylation reaction proceeded smoothly to provide the corresponding vicinal diol in a good chemical yield. The osmium catalyst was readily recovered by use of an external magnet, and was reused repeatedly.     

The hydrogenation/transfer hydrogenation network: asymmetric hydrogenation of ketones with chiral eta6-arene/N-Tosylethylenediamine-ruthenium(II) catalysts

Chiral eta6-arene/N-tosylethylenediamine-Ru(II) complexes, known as excellent catalysts for asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of aromatic ketones in basic 2-propanol, can be used for asymmetric hydrogenation using H2 gas. Active catalysts are generated from RuCl[(S,S)-TsNCH(C6H5)CH(C6H5)NH2](eta6-p-cymene) in methanol, but not 2-propanol, or by combination of Ru[(S,S)-TsNCH(C6H5)CH(C6H5)NH](eta6-p-cymene) and CF3SO3H or other non-nucleophilic acids. This method allows, for the first time, asymmetric hydrogenation of simple ketones under acidic conditions. Hydrogenation of base-sensitive 4-chromanone and its derivatives with the S,S catalyst proceeds in methanol with a substrate-to-catalyst molar ratio of 1000-3000 (10 atm) to 7000 (100 atm), giving (S)-4-chromanols with 97% ee quantitatively. The reaction can be achieved even on a 2.4 kg scale. The mechanistic rationale for the catalytic efficiency is presented.     

Chiral porous hybrid solids for practical heterogeneous asymmetric hydrogenation of aromatic ketones

Chiral porous zirconium phosphonates containing Ru-BINAP-DPEN moieties were synthesized via a molecular building-block approach, and characterized by a variety of techniques including TGA, adsorption isotherms, XRD, SEM, IR, and microanalysis. These hybrid solids were used for enantioselective heterogeneous asymmetric hydrogenation of aromatic ketones with remarkably high ee values of up to 99.2%. These solid catalysts can also be easily recycled and reused for eight times without the loss of activity and enantioselectivity. Ready tunability of such a molecular building-block approach will allow the optimization of these hybrid materials and promise to lead to other practically useful heterogeneous asymmetric catalysts.     

Catalytic hydrogenation of aromatic aldehydes and ketones over ruthenium catalysts

Catalytic hydrogenations of acetophenone, benzaldehyde, and cinnamaldehyde using a catalyst of 5% wt. Ru/activ. carbon in hexane and/or 2-propanol were studied. Basic kinetic parameters were evaluated. The influence of the reactants’ structure and the kind of solvent used on the course of the reaction were also discussed.     

Catalytic asymmetric hydrogenation of aromatic ketones in room temperature ionic liquids

Polar bisphosphonic acid-derived Ru(BINAP)(DPEN)Cl₂ precatalysts were synthesized and immobilized in room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) for asymmetric hydrogenation of aromatic ketones with ee values of up to 98.7%. The performance of the Ru catalysts is highly dependent on the nature of imidazolium ILs. For the imidazolium ILs without acidic protons, both ILs and Ru catalysts were recycled by simple extraction and reused. Such a simple immobilization approach also prevented the leaching of Ru (and Ru catalysts) into the chiral secondary alcohol products, and should prove desirable for the production of pharmaceutical intermediates that are free from metal contaminants.     

A modular design of metal catalysts for the transfer hydrogenation of aromatic ketones

The ability of transition metal catalysts to add or remove hydrogen from organic substrates by transfer hydrogenation is a valuable synthetic tool. Towards a series of novel metal complexes with a P―NH ligand, [Ph₂PNHCH₂―C₄H₃O] derived from furfurylamine were synthesized. Reaction of [Ph₂PNHCH₂―C₄H₃O] 1 with [Ru(η⁶‐p‐cymene)(μ‐Cl)Cl]₂, [Ru(η⁶‐benzene)(μ‐Cl)Cl]₂, [Rh(μ‐Cl)(cod)]₂ and [Ir(η⁵‐C₅Me₅)(μ‐Cl)Cl]₂ gave a range of new monodentate complexes [Ru(Ph₂PNHCH₂―C₄H₃O)(η⁶‐p‐cymene)Cl₂] 2 , [Ru(Ph₂PNHCH₂―C₄H₃O)(η⁶‐benzene)Cl₂] 3 , [Rh(Ph₂PNHCH₂‐C₄H₃O)(cod)Cl] 4 , and [Ir(Ph₂PNHCH₂‐C₄H₃0)(η⁵‐C₅Me₅)Cl₂] 5 , respectively. All new complexes were fully characterized by analytical and spectroscopic methods. ³¹P‐{¹H} NMR, distortionless enhancement by polarization transfer (DEPT) or ¹H‐¹³C heteronuclear correlation (HETCOR) experiments were used to confirm the spectral assignments. Following activation by KOH, compounds 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 catalyzed the transfer hydrogenation of acetophenone derivatives to 1‐phenylethanol derivatives in the presence of iso‐PrOH as the hydrogen source. Notably [Ru(Ph₂PNHCH₂‐C₄H₃O)(η⁶‐benzene)Cl₂] 3 acts as an excellent catalyst, giving the corresponding alcohols in 98–99% yield in 20 min at 82°C (time of flight ≤ 297 h^?1) for the transfer hydrogenation reaction in comparison to analogous rhodium or iridium complexes. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Novel chiral multidentate P3N4-type ligand for asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of aromatic ketones

Novel chiral multidentate P₃N₄-type ligand has been synthesized and characterized by NMR and HRMS. Using i-PrOH as solvent and hydrogen source, asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of various ketones was investigated. The catalyst generated in situ from chiral multidentate aminophosphine ligand (R,R,R,R)-3 and IrCl(CO)(PPh₃)₂ exhibited highly catalytic activity and excellent enantioselectivity under mild conditions, achieving the corresponding chiral alcohols with up to 99% yield and 99% ee.     

Catalytic asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of ketones using terpene-based chiral β-amino alcohols

Catalytic asymmetric transfer hydrogenations of aromatic alkyl ketones have been studied using [RuCl₂(p-cymeme)]₂ and terpene-based β-amino alcohols. The limonene derived amino alcohol, (1S,2S,4R)-1-methyl-4-(1-methylethenyl)-2-(methylamino)cyclohexanol gave the most promising results. Chiral secondary alcohols were obtained in good to excellent yields and moderate enantioselectivities (up to 71%).     

Heterogeneous asymmetric hydrogenation of heteroaromatic methyl ketones catalyzed by cinchona-modified iridium catalysts

A heterogeneous iridium catalyst was synthesized with silica particles as support for the hydrogenation of heteroaromatic methyl ketones. The catalyst and support were characterized by solid-state NMR, HTEM, SEM, XPS, and BET. A series of heteroaromatic methyl ketones were investigated at room temperature. The catalytic system was effective and more than 99% conversion and up to 83.6% enantioselectivity were obtained in the hydrogenation of heteroaromatic methyl ketones.