Ruthenium-Catalyzed Enantioselective Hydrogenation of Ferrocenyl Ketones: A Synthetic Method for Chiral Ferrocenyl Alcohols

Abstract

Highly effective asymmetric hydrogenation of various ferrocenyl ketones, including aliphatic ferrocenyl ketones as well as the more challenging aryl ferrocenyl ketones, was realized in the presence of a Ru/diphosphine/diamine bifunctional catalytic system. Excellent enantioselectivities (up to 99.8% ee) and activities (S/C = 5000) could be obtained. These asymmetric hydrogenations provided a convenient and efficient synthetic method for chiral ferrocenyl alcohols, which are key intermediates for a variety of chiral ferrocenyl ligands and resolving reagents