Rhodium(I)-catalyzed enantioselective hydrogenation of substituted acrylic acids with sterically similar β,β-diaryls

Article abstract of DOI:10.1002/anie.201302349

Distinct differentiation: β,β-Disubstituted acrylic acids with sterically similar geminal diaryl groups can be hydrogenated with excellent enantioselectivities in the presence of a Rh^I complex formed in situ with two-component ligands, a chiral secondary phosphine oxide (SPO) and an achiral phosphine (Ph₃P). The sense of asymmetric induction was found to be controlled by the substrate configuration, thus allowing access to both enantiomers of the product with the same catalyst. Copyright