A one-step, enantioselective reduction of ethyl nicotinate to ethyl nipecotinate using a constrained, chiral, heterogeneous catalyst

A chiral catalyst derived from 1,1'-bis(diphenylphosphino)ferrocene and anchored within MCM-41 displays remarkable increases in both enantioselectivity and activity, in the hydrogenation of ethyl nicotinate to ethyl nipecotinate, when compared to an analogous homogeneous model compound.