Iron-Catalyzed Highly Enantioselective Hydrogenation of Alkenes

Here, we reported for the first time an iron-catalyzed highly enantioselective hydrogenation of minimally functionalized 1,1-disubstituted alkenes to access chiral alkanes with full conversion and excellent ee. A novel chiral 8-oxazoline iminoquinoline ligand and its iron complex have been designed and synthesized. This protocol is operationally simple by using 1 atm of hydrogen gas and shows good functional group tolerance. A primary mechanism has been proposed by the deuterium-labeling experiments.

Automated summary

This study presents an iron-catalyzed highly enantioselective hydrogenation method for the synthesis of chiral alkanes from minimally functionalized 1,1-disubstituted alkenes. A novel chiral 8-oxazoline iminoquinoline ligand and its iron complex have been designed and synthesized to facilitate this transformation. The reaction is operationally simple, utilizing 1 atm of hydrogen gas, and demonstrates good functional group tolerance.