Highly enantioselective hydrogenation of alpha-dehydroamino esters and itaconates with triphosphorous bidentate ligands and the unprecedented solvent effect thereof

An X-ray diffraction experiment revealed an interesting triphosphorous bidentate coordination in a Pd(II) complex of a phosphine-phosphoramidite ligand 1, which showed excellent enantioselectivity (up to 99.4% ee) in Rh-catalyzed hydrogenation of alpha-dehydroamino esters in acetone. A dramatic solvent effect was found in the hydrogenation of itaconates, which induces opposite chiralities of the product with the same catalytic system by the use of different solvents (e.g., 99.6% ee (R) in TFE vs 71.2% ee (S) in methyl ethyl ketone).