Synfacts selects Vidal’s group paper on Asymmetric Hydrogenation Catalyzed by Rh(POP) Complexes

In SYNFACTS, current research results in synthetic organic chemistry, as they appear in the primary literature, are screened, selected, evaluated, summarized, and enriched with personal comments by experts in their field.

Anton Vidal and co-workers’ paper published recently in Chemistry: A European Journal, has been highlighted in Synfacts Issue 2, 2012: ‘Asymmetric Hydrogenation Towards Drug Building Blocks’

One of the research lines in Anton Vidal’s research group is the synthesis of enantiomerically pure P-OP ligands (phosphine-phosphinites and phosphine-phosphites) and their application in asymmetric catalysis. (Chem. Rev. 2011, 111, 2119).

In this Chem. Eur. J. paper that was also the cover of the issue, they use chiral cationic rhodium complexes of some of these P-OP ligands for the enantioselective hydrogenation reaction of a number of strategically devised alkenes, with high efficiency and high enantioselectivity.

In this way, they synthesise a range of enantiomerically enriched organic compounds that constitute advanced intermediates or direct precursors for the synthesis of relevant pharmaceutical drugs.