Synthesis of 6-endo-hydroxy norphos, a potential ligand for construction of chiral bimetallic catalysts

Article abstract of DOI:10.1016/S0957-4166(00)82181-3

6-endo-hydroxy norphos has been synthesized in two steps from norphos dioxide. The key step involves hydroxymercuration with the participation of the endo P = O group. The hydroxy diphosphine is expected to be a good candidate for the synthesis of a bimetallic system where the diphosphine moiety will bind a soft metal (such as rhodium) while the OH group will provide a hard center by its transformation into an OM group (M = Ti, Al, B etc). The fixed geometry of the system should be adapted to stereoselective catalytic transformations on bifunctional substrates of defined structures.