Fe/PNP Complexes
We studied P-stereogenic, tridentate, C2-symmetric PNP pincer ligands in their combination with iron(II) for the direct asymmetric hydrogenation of ketones. Quantitative conversion and up to 48% ee were achieved. A comparison of previously proposed mechanism using DFT revealed that the most likely mechanism is an outer-sphere mechanism involving the 2,6-dimethylenepyridine backbone, since this mechanism is the only one to correctly reproduce the experimentally observed selectivity for (S)-1-phenylethanol.
References
1) R. Huber, A. Passera, A. Mezzetti, ChemComm 2019, 55, 9251. external pageDOI:10.1039/C9CC03910D.
2) R. Huber, A. Passera, A. Mezzetti, Organometallics 2018, 37, 396. external pageDOI: 10.1021/acs.organomet.7b00816.