Asymmetric Transfer and Pressure Hydrogenation with Earth-Abundant Transition Metal Catalysts

The asymmetric transfer and pressure hydrogenation of various unsaturated substrates provides a succinct pathway to important chiral intermediates and products such as chiral alcohols, amines, and alkanes. The use of earth-abundant transition metals such as Fe, Co, Ni, and Cu in hydrogenation reactions provides an attractive alternative to traditionally used metals such as Ru, Rh, Ir, and Pd because they are comparatively inexpensive, less toxic, and as their name suggests, more abundant in nature. Earth-abundant transition metal-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation is rapidly becoming an important area of research. This review summarizes advances in the asymmetric hydrogenation of unsaturated bonds (ketones, imines, and alkenes) with earth-abundant transition metals.