Cyclometallated chiral Ru complexes with a single labile coordination site for asymmetric reduction of aminoketones

Abstract

The development of versatile and selective catalysts is crucial for asymmetric catalysis. Modular chiral Ru complexes featuring a single labile coordination site (SLCS) and cyclometallation have been designed and synthesized. The complexes are shown to be excellent catalysts for both asymmetric hydrogenation and transfer hydrogenation of aminoketones, affording valuable enantioenriched chiral amino alcohols. Control experiments suggest that both the SLCS and cyclometallation features are crucial for the catalytic activity and selectivity of the complexes.