Ruthenium-Catalyzed Enantioselective Hydrogenation of Hydrazones

Org Lett. 2020 Oct 2;22(19):7562-7566. doi: 10.1021/acs.orglett.0c02756. Epub 2020 Sep 18.

Abstract

Prochiral hydrazones undergo efficient and highly selective hydrogenation in the presence of a chiral diphosphine ruthenium catalyst, yielding enantioenriched hydrazine products (up to 99% ee). The mild reaction conditions and broad functional group tolerance of this method allow access to versatile chiral hydrazine building blocks containing aryl bromide, heteroaryl, alkyl, cycloalkyl, and ester substituents. This method was also demonstrated on >150 g scale, providing a valuable hydrazine intermediate en route to an active pharmaceutical ingredient.