Iron Catalysts Containing Amine(imine)diphosphine P-NH-N-P Ligands Catalyze both the Asymmetric Hydrogenation and Asymmetric Transfer Hydrogenation of Ketones

Abstract

When activated with base, the iron(II) complexes with tetradentate amine(imine)diphosphine ligands, (S,S)-trans-[FeCl(CO)(PAr2-NH-N-PAr′2)]BF4 (1: Ar, Ar′ = Ph; 2: Ar = Ph, Ar′ = 4-MeC6H4; 3: Ar, Ar′ = 3,5-Me2C6H3), are very active for the asymmetric transfer hydrogenation (ATH) of ketones in KOtBu/2-propanol. For ATH, better enantioselectivity, but lower catalytic activity, was observed in general when using catalyst precursors with the bulkier dixylylphosphino groups compared to those with diphenylphosphino groups. The complexes were much less active for the pressure hydrogenation of ketones, where 1 and 2 produced racemic product alcohols, while 3 yielded chiral alcohols with an enantiomeric excess of up to 70% (R) at turnover frequencies up to 80 h–1 and turnover numbers of 100 for a range of ketones at 50 °C and 20 atm H2. This is a rare example of asymmetric pressure hydrogenation using an iron complex. Unlike the case of ATH, there is no effect on the rate upon the addition of KOtBu beyond the 2 eq...