Palladium‐Catalyzed Chemo‐ and Enantioselective C−O Bond Cleavage of α‐Acyloxy Ketones by Hydrogenolysis

A chemoselective C-O bond cleavage of the ester alkyl side-chain of α-acyloxy ketones was realized for the first time by a highly efficient palladium-catalyzed hydrogenolysis (S/C=6000, the highest catalytic efficiency by far). Furthermore, a kinetic resolution of α-acyloxy ketones was first developed by enantioselective hydrogenolysis with good yields and up to 99 % ee.