Recent Progress in Iridium-Catalyzed Enantioselective Hydrogenation: Tetrasubstituted Olefins and Polyenes

Abstract

Iridium-catalyzed enantioselective hydrogenation has become the method of choice to convert prochiral unfunctionalized olefins to optically active compounds. Recently, we reported on applications giving access to more than one stereocenter in a single hydrogenation step. In this account we present recent developments in the hydrogenation of tetrasubstituted unfunctionalized olefins and isoprenoid polyenes, which allow the generation of two stereocenters in a single hydrogenation step.