Logotyp: till Uppsala universitets webbplats

An efficient chiral N-heterocyclic carbene ligand for the Ir-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of largely unfunctionalized tri-substituted olefins has been developed. The Ir-NHC-thiazole catalyst is able to reduce a large variety of substrates with excellent conversions and good enantioselectivities with ee's ranging from 34% to 90%, depending on the geometry around the double bond of the substrates.

A new class of chiral N,P-ligands for the Ir-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of aryl alkenes has been developed. These new ligands proved to be highly efficient and tolerates a broad range of substrates. The enantiomeric excesses are in the range of the best ever reported. The results can be rationalized with the proposed selectivity model.