Asymmetric Hydrogenation and Reductive Amination Catalysis
This community develops transition-metal and organocatalytic systems to produce chiral alcohols and amines, the foundational building blocks for pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals.
The work centers on the selective reduction of carbonyl compounds and the formation of carbon-nitrogen bonds. Recurring methods include transfer hydrogenation, asymmetric hydrogenation, and reductive amination, often utilizing ruthenium, iridium, or rhodium complexes with chiral ligands. A significant strand involves chiral phosphoric acid organocatalysis for enantioselective synthesis. The specific chemical targets are primary and secondary alcohols, primary amines, and ketones, with a strong emphasis on kinetic resolution and dynamic kinetic processes to control stereochemistry.
The largest share of the community's output is found in ruthenium research, accounting for 5.4% of all ruthenium studies, and 3,870 papers here. Iridium research also contributes significantly, with 5.0% of its total output and 2,101 papers.
The community comprises 19,793 papers, publishing most frequently in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, Organometallics, and The Journal of Organic Chemistry.
Recent work continues to focus on expanding the scope of these reactions, including manganese-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of electron-deficient olefins, iridium-catalyzed ionic hydrogenation of pyridines, and the construction of complex chiral phosphine oxides via palladium-catalyzed hydrophosphinylation.