Cobalt-Catalyzed Enantioselective Hydrogenation of Diaryl Ketones with Ferrocene-Based Secondary Phosphine Oxide Ligands

Org Lett. 2023 Aug 25;25(33):6228-6233. doi: 10.1021/acs.orglett.3c02530. Epub 2023 Aug 16.

Abstract

A new class of cobalt catalytic system for asymmetric hydrogenation of ketones was herein reported, involving the development of novel ferrocene-based secondary phosphine oxide ligands. An unusual P-O bidentate coordination pattern with cobalt was confirmed by an X-ray diffraction study. The bichelating tetrahedral cobalt(II) complexes afforded high reactivities (up to 99% yield) and good to excellent enantioselectivities (up to 92% ee) in the AH of various ortho-substituted diaryl ketones. In addition, the diferrocenyl cobalt complex was characterized with intriguing UV-vis absorption and electrochemical properties.