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The Noyori-Ikariya (arene)Ru(II)/TsDPEN precatalyst has been anchored to amorphous silica and DAVISIL through the η6-coordinated arene ligand via a straightforward synthesis and the derived systems, (arene)Ru(II)/TsDPEN@silica and (arene)Ru(II)/TsDPEN@DAVISIL, form highly efficient catalysts for the asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of a range of electron-rich and electron-poor aromatic ketones, giving good conversion and excellent ee's under mild reaction conditions. Moreover, catalyst generated in situ immediately prior to addition of substrate and hydrogen donor, by reaction of silica-supported [(arene)RuCl2]2 with (S,S)-TsDPEN, was as efficient as that generated from its preformed counterpart [(arene)Ru{(S,S)-TsDPEN}Cl]@silica. Gratifyingly, the initial TOFs (up to 1085 h?1) and ee's (96–97 %) obtained with these catalysts either rivalled or outperformed those previously reported for catalysts supported by either silica or polymer immobilized through one of the nitrogen atoms of TsDPEN. While the high ee's were also maintained during recycle studies, the conversion dropped steadily over the first three runs due to gradual leaching of the ruthenium.

We report a strategy to develop heterogeneous single-site enantioselective catalysts based on naturally occurring amino acids and earth-abundant metals for eco-friendly asymmetric catalysis. The grafting of amino acids within the pores of a metal-organic framework (MOF), followed by post-synthetic metalation with iron precursor, affords highly active and enantioselective (>99 % ee for 10 examples) catalysts for hydrosilylation and hydroboration of carbonyl compounds. Impressively, the MOF-Fe catalyst displayed high turnover numbers of up to 10 000 and was recycled and reused more than 15 times without diminishing the enantioselectivity. MOF-Fe displayed much higher activity and enantioselectivity than its homogeneous control catalyst, likely due to the formation of robust single-site catalyst in the MOF through site-isolation.

The development of highly efficient and enantioselective heterogeneous catalysts based on earth-abundant elements and inexpensive chiral ligands is essential for environment-friendly and economical production of optically active compounds. We report a strategy of synthesizing chiral amino alcohol-functionalized metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) to afford highly enantioselective single-site base-metal catalysts for asymmetric organic transformations. The chiral MOFs (vol-UiO) were prepared by grafting of chiral amino alcohol such as l-valinol within the pores of aldehyde-functionalized UiO-MOFs via formation of imine linkages. The metalation of vol-UiO with FeCl2 in THF gives amino alcohol coordinated octahedral FeII species of vol-FeCl(THF)3 within the MOFs as determined by X-ray absorption spectroscopy. Upon activation with LiCH2SiMe3, vol-UiO-Fe catalyzed hydrosilylation and hydroboration of a range of aliphatic and aromatic carbonyls to afford the corresponding chiral alcohols with enantiomeric excesses up to 99%. Vol-UiO-Fe catalysts have high turnover numbers of up to 15 ?000 and could be reused at least 10 times without any loss of activity and enantioselectivity. The spectroscopic, kinetic, and computational studies suggest iron-hydride as the catalytic species, which undergoes enantioselective 1,2-insertion of carbonyl to give an iron-alkoxide intermediate. The subsequent σ-bond metathesis between Fe-O bond and Si-H bond of silane produces chiral silyl ether. This work highlights the importance of MOFs as the tunable molecular material for designing chiral solid catalysts based on inexpensive natural feedstocks such as chiral amino acids and base-metals for asymmetric organic transformations.

Unification of oxidation and reduction in a one-pot deracemization process has great significance in the preparation of enantioenriched organic molecules. However, the intrinsic mutual deactivation of oxidative and reductive catalysts and the extrinsic incompatible reaction conditions are unavoidable challenges in a single operation. To address these two issues, we develop a supported dual catalysts system to overcome these conflicts from incompatibility to compatibility, resulting in an efficient one-pot redox deracemization of secondary alcohols. During this transformation, the TEMPO species onto the outer surface of silica nanoparticles catalyze the oxidation of racemic alcohols to ketones, and the chiral Rh/diamine species in the nanochannels of the thermoresponsive polymer-coated hollow-shell mesoporous silica enable the asymmetric transfer hydrogenation (ATH) of ketones to chiral alcohols. To demonstrate the general feasibility, a series of orthogonal oxidation/ATH cascade reactions are compared to prove the compatible benefits in the elimination of their deactivations and the balance of the cascade directionality. As presented in this study, this redox deracemization process provides various chiral alcohols with enhanced yields and enantioselectivities relative to those from unsupported dual catalysts systems. Furthermore, the dual catalysts can be recycled continuously, making them an attractive feature in the application.

We report herein an efficient aluminum-catalyzed asymmetric MPV reduction of ketones with broad substrate scope and excellent yields and enantiomeric inductions. A variety of aromatic (both electron-poor and electron-rich) and aliphatic ketones were converted to chiral alcohols in good yields with high enantioselectivities (26 examples, 70-98percent yield and 82-99percent ee). This method operates under mild conditions (-10 °C) and low catalyst loading (1-5 mol percent). Furthermore, this process is catalyzed by the earth-abundant main-group element aluminum and employs 2-propanol as the hydride source.

With the aim of finding new methods for environmentally friendly synthesis of chiral phenylethanols, a screening was carried out to identify seeds that could be used as a biocatalyst capable of reducing stereoselectively prochiral ketones. As a result, seeds of Bauhinia variegata L. (Fabaceae) were identified as being an efficient and stereoselective biological reducer of acetophenone to produce (S)-1-phenylethanol (conversion of 98% and 99 e.e.%). Then, to optimise the reductive process, the effects of some variables such as temperature, load of substrate, pH, co-solvent, and reuse and storability of the seeds as a function of time were established. Utilising the optimal reaction conditions, nineteen substituted acetophenones were reduced to their corresponding chiral alcohols with a conversion ranging from 30% to 98% and enantiomeric excess of between 65% and >99%, and in addition, useful key intermediates were also obtained by the synthesis of drugs. The scope and advantages of this new biocatalytic synthetic method are also discussed.Research highlights A screening was carried out to identify seeds that could be used as a biocatalyst Seeds of Bauhinia variegata have been identified as an efficient biocatalyst to reduce carbonyl compounds. Acetophenone and substituted acetophenones were reduced with high stereoselectivity. Some key intermediates were synthetised using this methodology. Seeds can be stored for twenty-four months without loss of activity.

Chirality amplification refers to the ability of a small chiral bias to fully control the main chain helicity of polymers and assemblies. Further implementation of functional chirally amplified helices as switchable asymmetric catalysts, chiral sensors, a

Enantiomerically enriched chiral secondary alcohols serve as valuable building blocks for drug intermediates and fine chemicals. In this study the deracemisation of secondary alcohols to generate enantiomeric pure chiral alcohols has been achieved by combining enantio-selective enzymatic oxidation of a secondary alcohol, by a variant of GOase (GOase M3-5), with either non-selective ketone reduction via transfer hydrogenation (TH) or enantio-selective asymmetric transfer hydrogenation (ATH). Both the enzymatic oxidation system and the transition-metal mediated reduction system were optimised to ensure compatibility with each other resulting in a homogeneous reaction system. 1-(4-nitrophenyl)ethanol was generated with 99 % conversion and 98 % ee by the deracemisation method, and it has been extended to a series of other secondary alcohols with comparable results.

A family of ferrocene-based chiral PNP ligands is reported. These tridentate ligands were successfully applied in Mn-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of ketones, giving high enantioselectivities (92%～99% ee for aryl alkyl ketones) as well as high efficiencies (TON up to 2000). In addition, dialkyl ketones could also be hydrogenated smoothly. Manganese intermediates that might be involved in the catalytic cycle were analyzed. DFT calculation was carried out to help understand the chiral induction model. The Mn/PNP catalyst could discriminate two groups with different steric properties by deformation of the phosphine moiety in the flexible 5-membered ring.

Alcohol dehydrogenases (ADHs) together with the economical substrate-coupled cofactor regeneration system play a pivotal role in the asymmetric synthesis of chiral alcohols; however, severe challenges concerning the poor tolerance of enzymes to 2-propanol and the adverse effects of the by-product, acetone, limit its applications, causing this strategy to lapse. Herein, a novel ADH gene smadh2 was identified from Stenotrophomonas maltophilia by traditional genome mining technology. The gene was cloned into Escherichia coli cells and then expressed to yield SmADH2. SmADH2 has a broad substrate spectrum and exhibits excellent tolerance and superb activity to 2-propanol even at 10.5 M (80%, v/v) concentration. Moreover, a new thermostatic bubble column reactor (TBCR) system is successfully designed to alleviate the inhibition of the by-product acetone by gas flow and continuously supplement 2-propanol. The organic waste can be simultaneously recovered for the purpose of green synthesis. In the sustainable system, structurally diverse chiral alcohols are synthesised at a high substrate loading (>150 g L-1) without adding external coenzymes. Among these, about 780 g L-1 (6 M) ethyl acetoacetate is completely converted into ethyl (R)-3-hydroxybutyrate in only 2.5 h with 99.9% ee and 7488 g L-1 d-1 space-time yield. Molecular dynamics simulation results shed light on the high catalytic activity toward the substrate. Therefore, the high 2-propanol tolerance SmADH2 with the TBCR system proves to be a potent biocatalytic strategy for the synthesis of chiral alcohols on an industrial scale.

The application of a triazole-substituted chiral iodoarene in a direct enantioselective hydroxylation of alkyl arenes is reported. This method allows the rapid synthesis of chiral benzyl alcohols in high yields and stereocontrol, despite its nontemplated nature. In a cascade activation consisting of an initial irradiation-induced radical C-H-bromination and a consecutive enantioconvergent hydroxylation, the iodoarene catalyst has a dual role. It initiates the radical bromination in its oxidized state through an in-situ-formed bromoiodane and in the second, Cu-catalyzed step, it acts as a chiral ligand. This work demonstrates the ability of a chiral aryl iodide catalyst acting both as an oxidant and as a chiral ligand in a highly enantioselective C-H-activating transformation. Furthermore, this concept presents an enantioconvergent hydroxylation with high selectivity using a synthetic catalyst.

New chiral C2-symmetric bis(phosphinite) ligands containing imine group were synthesized from 1-({[(1R,2R)-2-{[(2-hydroxynaphthalen-1-yl)methylidene] amino}cyclohexyl]- imino}methyl)- naphthalen-2-ol and two equivalents of Ph2PCl, (i-Pr)2PCl or (Cy)2PCl, in high yields. Binuclear C2-symmetric half sandwich η6-p-cymene-Ru(II) complexes of the chiral phosphinite ligands were synthesized by treating of [Ru(η6-p-cymene)(μ-Cl)Cl]2 with the phosphinites in 1:1 M ratio in CH2Cl2. Their catalytic activities in asymmetric transfer hydrogenation (ATH) were investigated for the reaction of acetophenone derivatives with isopropyl alcohol. The corresponding optically active secondary alcohols were obtained in excellent levels of conversion (96–99%) and moderate enantioselectivity (up to 60% ee). Among three complexes investigated, complex 4 was the most efficient one.

The deracemization of benzylic alcohols has been achieved using a redox-driven one-pot two-step process. The racemic alcohols were oxidized by bis(methoxypropyl) ether and oxygen to give the ketone intermediates, followed by an asymmetric transfer hydrogenation with a chiral ruthenium catalyst. This compatible oxidation/reduction process gave the enantiomerically enriched alcohols with up to 95% ee values.

The present invention relates to secondary aryl alcohol and a method for synthesizing the same and, specifically, to synthesizing secondary aryl alcohol having high optical selectivity through a hydrosilylation reaction using ketone containing an aryl group. In the method for synthesizing secondary aryl alcohol according to an embodiment of the present invention, secondary aryl alcohol is synthesized by making ketone react with hydrosilane under a chiral boron Lewis acid catalyst.COPYRIGHT KIPO 2020

This report describes the enantioselective reduction of structurally diverse α,β-unsaturated ketones and aryl ketones by perakine reductase (PR) from Rauvolfia. This enzymatic reduction produces α-chiral allylic and aryl alcohols with excellent enantioselectivity and most of the products in satisfactory yields. Furthermore, the work demonstrates 1 mmol scale reactions for product delivery without any detrimental effect on yield and enantioselectivity. The catalytic mechanism, determined by 3D-structure-based modeling of PR and ligand complexes, is also described.

The invention relates to an iridium complex containing a carbonboryl benzimidazole structure and a preparation method and application thereof. The preparation method of the iridium complex comprises the following steps that 1, an n-BuLi solution is added into an carborane solution for a reaction at the room temperature for 30-60 minutes; 2, bromobenzimidazole is added for a reaction at the room temperature for 6-8 hours; 3, [Cp*IrCl2]2 is added for a reaction at the room temperature for 3-5 hours, and post-treatment is carried out to obtain the iridium complex; the iridium complex is used forcatalyzing asymmetric reduction of aromatic ketones to prepare chiral alcohol compounds. Compared with the prior art, the iridium complex adopts the dual-core iridium compound [Cp*IrCl2]2 as a raw material which reacts with n-BuLi and ortho-carbonboryl benzimidazole to obtain the trivalent iridium complex containing the ortho-carbonboryl benzimidazole structure. The iridium complex has stable physical and chemical properties and thermal stability, a synthesis process is simple and environmentally friendly, and the iridium complex catalyzes an asymmetric reduction reaction of aromatic ketones to synthesize chiral alcohol compounds under mild conditions and has excellent catalytic activity and enantioselectivity and a high yield.

We have examined enantioselective bioreduction of acetophenone and its substituted derivatives into corresponding S-alcohols catalyzed by Daucus carota and Petroselinum crispum plant cells in water and isooctane. We found that the nature of the substituen

The catalytic asymmetric transfer hydrogenation (ATH) of acetophenone in isopropanol by Ru(0) nanoparticles (NPs) obtained by the in-situ reduction of Ru (II) half-sandwich complexes of chiral 2-oxazolidinethiones and 2-thiozolidinethiones was examined and compared with the catalytic activity of Ru(0) NPs formed in-situ by the reduction of [Ru(p-cymene)(Cl)2]2 in presence of optically active ligands such as (S)-4-isobutylthiazolidine-2-thione, (S)-4-Isopropyl-2(?2-pyridinyl)-2-oxazoline, (8S, 9R)-(?)-cinchonidine, (S)-leucinol, (S)-phenylalaninol, and (S)-leucine. Three of the best catalytic systems were then examined for ATH of thirteen aromatic ketones with different electronic and steric properties. A maximum of 24% ee was obtained using NPs generated from the Ru (II) half-sandwich complex with (S)-4-isobutylthiazolidine-2-thione in the TH of acetophenone. The NPs were characterized by TEM and DLS measurements. Kinetic studies and poisoning experiments confirmed that the reaction is catalyzed by the chiral NPs formed in-situ. Complete characterization of the complexes, including the X-ray crystallographic characterization of two complexes, was also carried out.

This work presented the synthesis and characterization of new ionic liquid-coordinating ruthenium complexes. The resulting ruthenium complexes exhibited not only excellent thermoregulated phase-separation behavior but also highly catalytic activity and enantioselectivity for the asymmetric hydrogenation with molecular hydrogen. The thermoregulated ionic liquid catalyst was highly resistant to leaching and was recycled consecutively for six times without significant loss of catalytic activity and enantioselectivity. The presence of Ru–H species revealed that NH and a Ru–H unit, involved in the hydride transfer process, were of great importance in the present catalytic system.

Enzymes are the main biocatalysts of biological systems and nowadays they play an important role in asymmetric organic synthesis. Microorganisms are the main source for enzymes, however, just a very small portion of them are culturable at lab conditions and, as an alternative, metagenomics approaches allow new enzymes to be accessed from so-called “non-culturable” microorganisms. Several classes of metagenomic enzymes have been described in literature. Nevertheless, studies about their potential for asymmetric biotransformation are underexploited. Therefore, we present our recent efforts to establish the substrate-scope of LipG9, a metagenomic lipase, in enzymatic kinetic resolution (EKR) of chiral substances. LipG9 was previously isolated, immobilized and successfully applied in EKR of aliphatic alcohols. In this study, a series of resolvable chiral substances were assayed with LipG9, and secondary benzyl alcohols/esters were preferentially resolved in a much superior enantioselectivity (E > 200) than those described for aliphatic alcohols (E from 4 to 63). In an opposite way, Im-LipG9 did not present activity for tertiary alcohols, amines and lactones. When compared to commercial lipases, Im-LipG9 enantioselectivity was superior to Candida rugosa lipase and equivalent to Candida antarctica lipase B. Thus, the chemo and enantioselectivity of LipG9 in EKR reactions were identified and its potential for asymmetric synthetic approaches was demonstrated.

The invention discloses a chiral ferrocene phosphine-nitrogen-nitrogen tridentate ligand as well as a preparation method and an application thereof. The general structural formula of the chiral ferrocene phosphine-nitrogen-nitrogen tridentate ligand is shown in formula (I) or formula (II), wherein R1 and R2 are independently selected from C1-C6 alkyl, C3-C6 cycloalkyl, aryl or heterocyclic aryl respectively; R3 is aryl, heterocyclic aryl or C1-C6 alkyl, and R4 is hydrogen, C1-C6 alkyl, aryl or heterocyclic aryl; the general structural formula in the formula (I) and the formula (II) contains animidazole group or a substituted benzimidazole group respectively; one or more substituent groups exist on a benzene ring of the substituted benzimidazole group, and each substituent group is independently selected from H or C1-C4 alkyl. The chiral ferrocene phosphine-nitrogen-nitrogen tridentate ligand has the advantages that the tridentate ligand is convenient to synthesize, exists in the air stably and can be coordinated with cheap metal to prepare a cheap metal catalyst, and the cheap metal catalyst is well applied to asymmetric hydrogenation reactions of ketone.

This contribution introduces poly(2-oxazoline)-based shell cross-linked micelles (SCMs) as nanoreactors to realize one-pot redox-driven deracemizations of secondary alcohols in aqueous media. TEMPO and Rh-TsDPEN moieties are spatially positioned into the hydrophilic corona and the hydrophobic micelle core, respectively. TEMPO catalyzes the oxidation of racemic secondary alcohols into ketones, while Rh-TsDPEN catalyzes the asymmetric transfer hydrogenation (ATH) of these ketones to afford enantioenriched secondary alcohols. Both catalysts, the Rh-TsDPEN complex and TEMPO, are incompatible with each other and the SCMs are designed to provide indispensable catalyst site isolation. Kinetic studies show that the SCMs enhance the reactivity of the immobilized catalysts, in comparison to those for the unsupported analogues under the same reaction conditions. Our nanoreactors can perform deracemizations on a broad range of secondary alcohol substrates and are reusable in a continuous manner while maintaining high activity.

The invention relates to a method for synthesizing chiral alcohol (formula I) through deracemization. The preparation method provided by the invention is one-pot asymmetric cascade reaction, and comprises the following steps: 1), with racemic alcohol (formula II) as a raw material and dipropylene glycol dimethyl ether as a solvent, reacting at 120 DEG C for 12 hours, and performing a dehydrogenation reaction to produce intermediate ketone (formula III); and 2), directly adding 2.5mol% of a chiral diamine metal ruthenium complex as a catalyst into a reaction system, with 5 equivalents of sodiumformate as a hydrogen source and a mixed solution of methanol and water as a solvent, reacting at 50 DEG C for 12 hours under the protection of nitrogen, and performing asymmetric transfer hydrogenation to obtain the chiral alcohol (formula I). The method has the advantages of environment-friendly synthesis such as a simple and mild reaction condition, step economy and atomic economy; and in addition, a substrate has a wide application range, the enantioselectivity is high, and the method has a broad application prospect in synthesis of chiral alcohol pharmaceutical intermediates and fine chemical raw materials.

Whole-cell biocatalysts offer a highly enantioselective, minimally polluting route to optically active alcohols. Currently, most of the whole-cell catalytic performance involves resting cells rather than growing cell biotransformation, which is one-step process that benefits from the simultaneous growth and biotransformation, eliminating the need for catalysts preparation. In this paper, asymmetric reduction of 14 aromatic ketones to the corresponding enantiomerically pure alcohols was successfully conducted using the growing and resting cells of marine-derived fungi under optimized conditions. Good yields and excellent enantioselectivities were achieved with both methods. Although substrate inhibition might be a limiting factor for growing cell biotransformation, the selected strain can still completely convert 10-mM substrates into the desired products. The resting cell biotransformation showed a capacity to be recycled nine times without a significant decrease in the activity. This is the first study to perform asymmetric reduction of ketones by one-step growing cell biotransformation.

Cyclometalation of [Cp?IrCl2]2 with methyl (S)-2-phenyl-4,5-dihydrooxazole-4-carboxylate in the presence of NaOAc selectively led to a N,C- or N,O-chelated Cp?Ir(III) complex, depending on whether or not water was present in the reaction. While derived from the same precursor, these two complexes behaved in a dramatically different manner in asymmetric transfer hydrogenation (ATH) of ketones by formic acid, with the N,O-chelated complex being much more selective and active. The sense of asymmetric induction is also different, with the N,O-complex affording S while the N,C-analogue R alcohols. Further study revealed that the nature of the base additive considerably impacts the enantioselectivity and the effective HCOOH/amine ratios. These observations show the importance of ligand coordination mode and using the right base for ATH reactions.

A series of air-stable, easily accessible tridentate ferrocene-based diamine-phosphine sulfonamide (f-diaphos) ligands were successfully developed for iridium-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of ketones. The f-diaphos ligands exhibited excellent enantioselectivity and superb reactivity in Ir-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of ketones (for arylalkyl ketones, (S)-selectivity, up to 99.4% ee, and 100 000 TON; for diaryl ketones, (R)-selectivity, up to 98.2% ee, and 10 000 TON). This protocol could be easily conducted on gram scale, thereby providing a chance to various drugs.

Global sales of single enantiomeric drug products are growing at an alarming rate every year. A total of 7 bacterial strains were screened for their ability to reduce acetophenones to its corresponding alcohol. Among these strains Lactobacillus paracasei BD87E6 was found to be the most successful biocatalyst to reduce the ketones to the corresponding alcohols. The reaction conditions were systematically optimized for the reducing agent Lactobacillus paracasei BD87E6, which showed high enantioselectivity and conversion for the bioreduction. The preparative scale asymmetric reduction of 3-methoxyacetophenone (1h) by Lactobacillus paracasei BD87E6 gave (R)-1-(3-methoxyphenyl)ethanol (2h) with 92% yield and 99% enantiomeric excess. Compound 2h could be used for the synthesis of (S)-rivastigmine which has a great potential for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. This study demonstrates that Lactobacillus paracasei BD87E6 can be used as a biocatalyst to obtain chiral carbinol with excellent yield and selectivity. The whole cell catalyzed the reductions of ketone substrates on the preparative scale, demonstrating that Lactobacillus paracasei BD87E6 would be a valuable biocatalyst for the preparation of chiral aromatic alcohols of pharmaceutical interest.

In this work, we report the synthesis of a novel, green and recoverable organic–inorganic magnetic nanocomposite by grafting β-cyclodextrin on the surface of a silica-coated magnetic nanoparticle, Fe3O4@SiO2/Pr-β-CD. FT-IR spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, CHN analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, vibrating sample magnetometer and X-ray diffraction analyses confirmed its structure. The magnetic core–shell structured modified silica microsphere has been successfully used as a chiral micro-vessel catalyst for the enantioselective reduction of ketones by NaBH4. The described catalyst was regenerated and reused without any significant changes in the yield and enantiomeric excess.

Chiral C2-symmetric bis(phosphinite) ligands and their binuclear ruthenium(II) complexes have been synthesized and used as catalysts in the ruthenium-catalyzed asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of aromatic, methyl alkyl and alkyl/aryl ketones using 2-propanol as both the hydrogen source and solvent in the presence of KOH. Under optimized conditions, all complexes showed high catalytic activity as catalysts in the reduction of various ketones to corresponding chiral secondary alcohols. Products were obtained with high conversions (99%) and moderate to good enantioselectivities (82% ee). Furthermore, C2-symmetric bis(phosphinite) ligands and their binuclear ruthenium(II) complexes were characterized by multinuclear NMR spectroscopy, FT-IR spectroscopy, LC/MS-MS and elemental analysis.

In the present study, a series of chiral C2-symmetric ferrocenyl based binuclear η6-benzene-Ru(II) complexes bearing diphenylphosphinite and diisopropylphosphinite moieties have been synthesised. The new binuclear η6-benze

A novel full atom-economic process for the transformation of alkynes into chiral alcohols by TfOH-catalyzed hydration coupled with Ru-catalyzed tandem asymmetric hydrogenation in TFE under simple conditions has been developed. A range of chiral alcohols was obtained with broad functional group tolerance, good yields, and excellent stereoselectivities.

A practical one-pot synthesis of chiral alcohols from readily available alkynes via tandem catalysis by the combination of CF3SO3H and a fluorinated chiral diamine Ru(ii) complex in aqueous CF3CH2OH is described. Very interestingly, the combination of fluorinated catalysts and solvent exhibits a positive fluorine effect on the reactivity and enantioselectivity. A range of chiral alcohols with wide functional group tolerance was obtained in high yield and excellent stereoselectivity under simple and mild conditions.

The invention relates to a method for synthesizing chiral alcohol by hydration/asymmetric hydrogenation of alkyne in series. The method uses cheap and easily-available alkyne I as a raw material and comprises the following steps: step 1) with fluorine-containing alcohol and water as solvents, allowing the alkyne I to generate a hydration reaction under the catalysis of trifluoromethanesulfonic acid so as to generate an intermediate namely ketone; and step 2) directly adding a complex of monossulfonyl chiral diamine and metal ruthenium or rhodium or iridium as a catalyst into a reaction system,then adding alkali, introducing hydrogen gas with a pressure intensity of 1 to 10 Mpa, and carrying out an asymmetric hydrogenation reaction so as to obtain a product II. According to the invention,through a two-step one-pot process, the intermediate is not needed to be separated and purified; operation is simple and convenient; and a substrate has wide application range and high enantioselectivity. Concretely, the method provided by the invention has a general reaction formula which is described in the specification.

The invention relates to a method for direct conversion of aromatic alkyne into chiral alcohol through a one-pot process. The method uses cheap and easily-available alkyne I as a raw material, adoptsa two-step one-pot strategy for direct synthesis of chiral alcohol II, and comprises the following concrete steps: step 1) with fluorine-containing alcohol and water as solvents, allowing the alkyne Ito generate a hydration reaction under the catalysis of trifluoromethanesulfonic acid so as to generate an intermediate namely ketone; and step 2) directly adding a complex of monossulfonyl chiral diamine and metal ruthenium or rhodium or iridium as a catalyst into a reaction system, and with a mixture of a sodium formate aqueous solution or formic acid-triethylamine as a hydrogen source, carrying out an asymmetric transfer hydrogenation reaction so as to obtain a product II. The method provided by the invention has the following advantages: operation is simple and convenient; reaction conditions are mild; and a substrate has wide application range and high enantioselectivity. Concretely, the method provided by the invention has a general reaction formula which is described in the specification.

Chiral secondary alcohols are convenient mediator for the synthesis of biologically active compounds and natural products. In this study fifteen yeast strains belonging to three food originated yeast species Debaryomyces hansenii, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Hanseniaspora guilliermondii were tested for their capability for the asymmetric reduction of acetophenone to 1-phenylethanol as biocatalyst microorganisms. Of these strains, Debaryomyces hansenii P1 strain showed an effective asymmetric reduction ability. Under optimized conditions, substituted acetophenones were converted to the corresponding optically active secondary alcohols in up to 99% enantiomeric excess and at high conversion rates. This is the first report on the enantioselective reduction of acetophenone by D. hansenii P1 from past?rma, a fermented Turkish meat product. The preparative scale asymmetric bio reduction of 3-methoxy acetophenone 1g by D. hansenii P1 gave (R)-1-(3-methoxyphenyl) ethanol 2g 82% yield, and >99% enantiomeric excess. Compound 2g can be used for the synthesis of (+)-NPS-R-568 [3-(2-chlorophenyl)-N-[(1R)-1-(3-methoxyphenly) ethyl] propan-1-amine] which have a great potential for the treatment of primary and secondary hyper-parathyroidism. In addition, D. hansenii P1 successfully reduced acetophenone derivatives. This study showed that this yeast can be used industrially to produce enantiomerically pure chiral secondary alcohols, which can be easily converted to different functional groups.

The increasing demand for biocatalysts in synthesizing enantiomerically pure chiral alcohols results from the outstanding characteristics of biocatalysts in reaction, economic, and ecological issues. Herein, fifteen yeast strains belonging to three food originated yeast species Candida zeylanoides, Pichia fermentans, and Saccharomyces uvarum were tested for their capability for asymmetric reduction of acetophenone to 1-phenylethanol as biocatalysts. Of these strains, C.?zeylanoides P1 showed an effective asymmetric reduction ability. Under optimized conditions, substituted acetophenones were converted to corresponding optically active secondary alcohols in up to 99% enantiomeric excess and at high yields. The preparative scale asymmetric bioreduction of 4-nitroacetophenone (1m) by C.?zeylanoides P1 gave (S)-1-(4-nitrophenyl)ethanol (2m) with 89% yield and >?99% enantiomeric excess. Compound 2m has been obtained in an enantiomerically pure and inexpensive form. Additionally, these results indicate that C.?zeylanoides P1 is a promising biocatalyst for the synthesis of chiral alcohols in industry.

Chiral secondary alcohols are valuable intermediates for many important enantiopure pharmaceuticals and biologically active molecules. In this work, we studied asymmetric reduction of aromatic ketones to produce the corresponding chiral secondary alcohols using lactic acid bacteria (LAB) as new biocatalysts. Seven LAB strains were screened for their ability to reduce acetophenones to their corresponding alcohols. Among these strains, Lactobacillus paracasei BD101 was found to be the most successful at reducing the ketones to the corresponding alcohols. The reaction conditions were further systematically optimized for this strain and high enantioselectivity (99%) and very good yields were obtained. These secondary alcohols were further tested for their antimicrobial activities against important pathogens and significant levels of antimicrobial activities were observed although these activities were altered depending on the secondary alcohols as well as their enantiomeric properties. The current methodology demonstrates a promising and alternative green approach for the synthesis of chiral secondary alcohols of biological importance in a cheap, mild, and environmentally useful process.

A robust two-enzyme system composed of an immobilized ketoreductase (KRED1-Pglu) and a glucose dehydrogenase (BmGDH) was developed via immobilization on aldehyde agarose for the stereoselective reduction of different ketones. The immobilized ketoreductase/glucose dehydrogenase system was continuously used in a flow reactor for weeks, even in the presence of concentrations of DMSO up to 20%.

The enantiomeric state of a supramolecular copper catalyst can be switched in situ in ca. five seconds. The dynamic property of the catalyst is provided by the non-covalent nature of the helical assemblies supporting the copper centers. These assemblies are formed by mixing an achiral benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxamide (BTA) phosphine ligand (for copper coordination) and both enantiomers of a chiral phosphine-free BTA co-monomer (for chirality amplification). The enantioselectivity of the hydrosilylation reaction is fixed by the BTA enantiomer in excess, which can be altered by simple BTA addition. As a result of the complete and fast stereochemical switch, any combination of the enantiomers was obtained during the conversion of a mixture of two substrates.

Enzymatic synthesis of enantiopure aromatic secondary alcohols (including substituted, hetero-aromatic and bicyclic structures) was carried out using halophilic alcohol dehydrogenase ADH2 from Haloferax volcanii (HvADH2). This enzyme showed an unprecedented substrate scope and absolute enatioselectivity. The cofactor NADPH was used catalytically and regenerated in situ by the biocatalyst, in the presence of 5% ethanol. The efficiency of HvADH2 for the conversion of aromatic ketones was markedly influenced by the steric and electronic factors as well as the solubility of ketones in the reaction medium. Furthermore, carbonyl stretching band frequencies ν (CO) have been measured for different ketones to understand the effect of electron withdrawing or donating properties of the ketone substituents on the reaction rate catalyzed by HvADH2. Good correlation was observed between ν (CO) of methyl aryl-ketones and the reaction rate catalyzed by HvADH2. The enzyme catalyzed the reductions of ketone substrates on the preparative scale, demonstrating that HvADH2 would be a valuable biocatalyst for the preparation of chiral aromatic alcohols of pharmaceutical interest.

A highly enantioselective hydrosilylation of ketones was developed for the synthesis of a variety of chiral secondary alcohols. In the presence of a chiral oxazaborolidinium ion (COBI) catalyst, the reaction proceeded with good yields (up to 99%) with excellent enantioselectivities (up to 99% ee).

A series of new tethered Rh(III)/Cp? complexes containing the N-(p-tolylsulfonyl)-1,2-diphenylethylene-1,2-diamine ligand have been prepared, characterized, and evaluated in the asymmetric transfer hydrogenation (ATH) of a wide range of (hetero)aryl ketones. The reaction was performed under mild conditions with the formic acid/triethylamine (5:2) system as the hydrogen source and provided enantiomerically enriched alcohols with good yields and high to excellent enantioselectivities. Although the nature of the substituents on the phenyl tethering ring did not alter the stereochemical outcome of the reaction, complexes bearing electron-donating groups exhibited a higher catalytic activity than those having electron-withdrawing groups. A scale-up of the ATH of 4-chromanone to the gram scale quantitatively delivered the reduced product with excellent enantioselectivity, demonstrating the potential usefulness of these new complexes.

The catalytic potential of new N-heterocyclic carbene ligands, derived from a chiral fused bicyclic ring scaffold with restricted rotation along the C–N bond bearing the chiral auxiliary, has been explored in the transition-metal-mediated asymmetric transfer hydrogenation reactions of ketones. In particular, the chiral oxazolidine-fused N-heterocyclic carbene precursors (3S)-3-R-6-methyl-7-phenyl-2,3-dihydroimidazo[5,1-b]oxazol-6-ium iodide [R = sec-butyl (1f), i-butyl (2f), isopropyl (3f)] were synthesized from commercially available optically pure amino acids in a multistep sequence that avoids tedious chiral resolution. The reactions of the chiral imidazolium iodide salts 1f–3f with Ag2O yielded the corresponding silver complexes 1g–3g, which were treated with [(COD)MCl]2 (M = Rh, Ir; COD = 1,5-cyclooctadiene) to afford the rhodium(I) and iridium(I) complexes (1h–3h and 1i–3i, respectively). The rhodium(I) and iridium(I) complexes conveniently catalyze the asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of acetophenones for a wide variety of substrates ranging from electron-rich ones such as 4-methylacetophenone, 3,4-dimethylacetophenone, 4-tert-butylacetophenone, and 4-(methylthio)acetophenone to electron-deficient ones such as 4-bromoacetophenone, 4-chloroacetophenone, 4-fluoroacetophenone, 4-nitroacetophenone, and 3-fluoroacetophenone in moderate-to-good yields (ca. 18–95 %) but with low enantioselectivities (ca. 4–41 % ee).

The highly efficient catalytic oxidation and oxidative kinetic resolution (OKR) of secondary alcohols has been achieved using a synthetic manganese catalyst with low loading and hydrogen peroxide as an environmentally benign oxidant in the presence of a small amount of sulfuric acid as an additive. The product yields were high (up to 93%) for alcohol oxidation and the enantioselectivity was excellent (>90% ee) for the OKR of secondary alcohols. Mechanistic studies revealed that alcohol oxidation occurs via hydrogen atom (H-atom) abstraction from an α-CH bond of the alcohol substrate and a two-electron process by an electrophilic Mn-oxo species. Density functional theory calculations revealed the difference in reaction energy barriers for H-atom abstraction from the α-CH bonds of R- and S-enantiomers by a chiral high-valent manganese-oxo complex, supporting the experimental result from the OKR of secondary alcohols.

Herein, a design of a biohybrid catalyst is described, consisting of Pd nanoparticles and a cross-linked network of aggregated lipase B enzyme of Candida antarctica (CalB CLEA) functioning as an active support for the Pd nanoparticles. Both entities of the hybrid catalyst showed good catalytic activity. The applicability was demonstrated in a one-pot reaction, where the Pd-catalyzed cycloisomerization of 4-pentynoic acid afforded a lactone that serves as an acyl donor in a subsequent selective enzymatic kinetic resolution of a set of sec-alcohols. The catalyst proved to be robust and could be recycled five times without a significant loss of activity.

A recombinant ketoreductase from Pichia glucozyma (KRED1-Pglu) was used for the enantioselective reduction of various mono-substituted acetophenones. Reaction rates of meta- and para-derivatives were consistent with the electronic effects described by σ-Hammett coefficients; on the other hand, enantioselectivity was determined by an opposite orientation of the substrate in the binding pocket. Reduction of ortho-derivatives occurred only with substrates bearing substituents with low steric impact (i.e., F and CN). Reactivity was controlled by stereoelectronic features (C=O length and charge, shape of LUMO frontier molecular orbitals), which can be theoretically calculated.

A modular ligand library of α-amino acid hydroxyamides and thioamides was prepared from 10 different N-tert-butyloxycarbonyl-protected α-amino acids and three different amino alcohols derived from 2,3-O-isopropylidene-α-d-mannofuranoside. The ligand library was evaluated in the half-sandwich ruthenium- and rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of a wide array of ketone substrates, including simple as well as sterically demanding aryl alkyl ketones, aryl fluoroalkyl ketones, heteroaromatic alkyl ketones, aliphatic, conjugated and propargylic ketones. Under the optimized reaction conditions, secondary alcohols were obtained in high yields and in enantioselectivities up to >99%. The choice of ligand/catalyst allowed for the generation of both enantiomers of the secondary alcohols, where the ruthenium-hydroxyamide and the rhodium-thioamide catalysts act complementarily towards each other. The catalytic systems were also evaluated in the tandem isomerization/asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of racemic allylic alcohols to yield enantiomerically enriched saturated secondary alcohols in up to 98% ee. Furthermore, the catalytic tandem α-alkylation/asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of acetophenones and 3-acetylpyridine with primary alcohols as alkylating and reducing agents was studied. Secondary alcohols containing an elongated alkyl chain were obtained in up to 92% ee. (Figure presented.).

Enantiopure α-phenethyl alcohols, including aromatic halohydrins, are important chiral building blocks. One of the best approaches to synthesise α-phenethyl alcohols is asymmetric reduction of prochiral ketones by alcohol dehydrogenases (ADHs). The obtained enantiopure halohydrin could be directly used to produce enantiopure epoxide through a base-induced ring-closure reaction, which is an attractive 'one pot' chemoenzymatic method for producing high-yield epoxide. In this study, a novel medium-chain dehydrogenase (KcDH) from Kuraishia capsulate CBS1993 was identified and characterised to show its broad substrate scope and excellent enantioselectivity. KcDH showed activities on 25 substrates of the 26 tested aromatic ketones and heteroaryl ketones, with an enantiomeric excess (ee) >99% and the highest relative activity observed with para-nitro acetophenone. Due to its high enantioselectivity for α-haloketones, a chemoenzymatic method for the synthesis of enantiopure styrene oxide (SO) and phenyl glycidyl ether (PGE) was developed through a base-induced ring-closure reaction on enantiopure halohydrin obtained with KcDH. (R)-SO and (S)-PGE were obtained in 86% and 94% analytical yield, respectively, and both epoxides were obtained with ee >99%. Thus, our results suggested that KcDH may be a promising biocatalyst for the production of multiple enantiopure α-phenethyl alcohols and epoxides.

The asymmetric reduction of prochiral ketones is a pivotal reaction for the preparation of chiral alcohols which form an extremely important class of intermediates for fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals. Especially, iridium-based asymmetric reduction of ketones to enantiomerically enriched alcohols has recently attracted important attention by a number of research groups and interest in this area is growing. Therefore, a series of novel neutral mononuclear iridium(III) ferrocenyl-phosphinite complexes have been prepared and applied in the iridium(III)-catalyzed asymmetric transfer hydrogenation (ATH) of ketones to give corresponding secondary alcohols with outstanding enantioselectivities and reactivities using 2-propanol as the hydrogen source (up to 99% ee and 99% conversion). It was seen that the substituents on the backbone of the ligands resulted in a significant effect on both the activity and % enantioselectivity. Furthermore, the structural elucidation of the complexes was carried out by elemental analysis, IR and multi-nuclear NMR spectroscopic data.

The zinc acetate promoted asymmetric hydrosilylation of various ketones and imines under solvent-free conditions was examined by using an unprecedented low catalyst loading. Exposure of ketones to 0.05 mol % Zn-based chiral diamine complex in the presence of triethoxysilane afforded enantioenriched alcohols in excellent yields (up to 98 %) and enantioselectivities (up to 97 % ee). This methodology also allowed for the chemoselective 1,2-reduction of α,β-unsaturated ketones and imines.