Enantio-differentiating hydrogenation of methyl acetoacetate over fine nickel powder with in situ modification

Abstract

Enantio-differentiating hydrogenation of methyl acetoacetate (MAA) was carried out using fine nickel powder (FNiP) by adding tartaric acid (TA) and sodium salts to the reaction media (in situ modification) instead of using a conventionally modified nickel catalyst. This catalyst prepared by the in situ modification gave an optical yield up to 79%.