Sequential asymmetric hydrogenation and photoredox chemistry with a single catalyst

Abstract

An important objective in organic synthesis is the generation of structural complexity in a straightforward and economical fashion. Herein, we address this challenge by reporting a process in which a single chiral iridium catalyst promotes two mechanistically distinct reaction types in a sequential fashion, namely asymmetric hydrogenation (two-electron mechanism) and photoredox chemistry (one-electron mechanism). A variety of chiral alcohols are generated with enantioselectivities of 91–99% ee using a single batch of catalyst added at the beginning of the reaction sequence without any requirement for isolating the reaction intermediates.