Palladium‐Catalyzed Asymmetric Hydrogenation of α‐Acyloxy‐1‐arylethanones

First hand: The first example of a palladium-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of α-acyloxy ketones (1) was accomplished to give the hydrogenated products 2 with by far the highest catalytic efficiency in up to quantitative conversions and excellent enantioselectivities. The hydrogenated products could serve as important intermediates for the preparation of many drug candidates. TFE=2,2,2-trifluoroethanol.