Planar chiral (eta(5)-cyclohexadienyl)- and (eta(6)-arene)-tricarbonylmanganese complexes: synthetic routes and application

Planar chiral arenetricarbonylchromium complexes have been intensively investigated and they have been applied as valuable building blocks for asymmetric synthesis and as ligands for asymmetric catalysis. In contrast, in the field of the isoelectronic cationic [(eta(6)-arene) Mn(CO)(3)](+) complexes, until these last 10 years, very few studies were published involving nonracemic planar chiral cationic complexes and their potential applications, certainly because of the difficult access to enantiopure starting material. In 2009, however, the discovery of the first resolution of such compounds opened a new area for their application in the field of organic as well as of organometallic enantioselective syntheses. We felt it important to write a review on this subject to give an up-to-date summary of the methodologies used to prepare enantiomerically pure planar chiral neutral [(eta(5)-cyclohexadienyl) Mn(CO)(3)] and cationic [(eta(6)-arene)Mn(CO)(3)](+) complexes as well as their potential in enantioselective synthesis.