Catalytic behavior of wool-Rh complex in asymmetric hydrogenation of 2-methyl furan

A Wool-Rh complex was prepared by the reaction of wool with RhCl(3)(.)3H(2)O in ethanol solution, and was found to be useful as a chiral catalyst for the asymmetric hydrogenation of 2-methyl furan to (S)-(+)-2-methyl tetrahydrofuran at 28 degreesC and under atmospheric hydrogen pressure. When an appropriate Rh content in the Wool-Rh complex was selected, the yield and optical yield amounted to 53.7 and 76.9%, respectively, and the Wool-Rh complex catalyst could be reused several times without any noticeable loss in its optical catalytic activity. Wool is a very cheap natural biopolymer ligand, and Wool-Rh complex is very easy to prepare, and it is a very active, enantioselective and stable chiral catalyst for asymmetric hydrogenation of 2-methyl furan. Copyright (C) 2003 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.