Transition-Metal-Catalyzed Hydrogenation and Asymmetric Synthesis of Alcohols and Amines
This community develops catalysts and ligands to add hydrogen to carbonyl compounds and nitrogen-containing molecules, enabling the production of chiral alcohols and amines used in pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals, as well as the release of hydrogen gas from formic acid.
The work centers on the design of homogeneous catalysts, particularly ruthenium, iridium, and rhodium complexes with chiral ligands, to drive transfer hydrogenation and asymmetric hydrogenation reactions. Key substrates include ketones, aldehydes, and imines, which are converted into primary and secondary alcohols or amines with high selectivity. A significant portion of the research focuses on formic acid as a hydrogen source, exploring its dehydrogenation for hydrogen production and its use in reductive amination. Methods such as borrowing hydrogen and dehydrogenative coupling are also prominent, alongside the development of manganese and cobalt-based systems to reduce reliance on precious metals.
The community is most heavily represented in research tracked for rhodium, where it accounts for 11.3% of all rhodium-related papers, and for iridium, representing 7.8% of that element's research. It also constitutes 5.9% of ruthenium research, with 4,227 papers in that category.
The group comprises 23,877 papers, published primarily in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, Journal of Organometallic Chemistry, and Organometallics.
Recent work continues to focus on the asymmetric hydrogenation of electron-deficient olefins and the selective reduction of heterocycles such as pyridines and quinolines, with ongoing efforts to optimize cobalt and iridium catalysts for these transformations.