Ir-catalyzed chemo- and enantioselective hydrogenation of enyne-conjugated ketones

Abstract

The asymmetric hydrogenation of β-alkynyl α,β-unsaturated ketones has been achieved by using Ir/f-phamidol as a catalyst under mild conditions, providing the corresponding chiral alcohols in high yields (up to 99% yield) and with excellent enantioselectivities (up to 99% ee). Moreover, the reaction performed well on a gram scale with 0.1 mol% catalytic loading, indicating the potential use of this protocol in the synthesis of chiral alkyl alcohols, drugs and natural products.