Rapid virtual screening of enantioselective catalysts using CatVS

Abstract

The development of computational tools to support organic synthesis, including the prediction of reaction pathways, optimization and selectivity, is a topic of intense current interest. Transition state force fields, derived by the quantum-guided molecular mechanics method, rapidly calculate the stereoselectivity of organic reactions accurately enough to allow predictive virtual screening. Here we describe CatVS, an automated tool for the virtual screening of substrate and ligand libraries for asymmetric catalysis within hours. It is shown for the OsO4-catalysed cis-dihydroxylation that the results from the automated set-up are indistinguishable from a manual substrate screen. Predictive computational ligand selection is demonstrated in the virtual ligand screen of a library of diphosphine ligands for the rhodium-catalysed asymmetric hydrogenation of enamides. Subsequent experimental testing verified that the most selective substrate–ligand combinations are successfully identified by the virtual screen. CatVS is therefore a promising tool to increase the efficiency of high-throughput experimentation. Predicting highly enantioselective ligands for a given asymmetric catalytic reaction is very challenging, but could greatly reduce the need for high-throughput, trial-and-error experimentation. Here, the authors report a freely available, automated tool to identify appropriate chiral ligands for given substrates in asymmetric catalysis.