Recent Advances on Chiral Catalysts for Asymmetric Hydrogenation of C=C, C=N and C=O Bonds

The asymmetric hydrogenation of C=C, C=N and C=O bonds catalyzed by chiralligand modified transition metal complexes is a very important process for the organic synthesis and fine chemical production. A large number of hydrogenation chiral catalysts mainly based on transition metals such as rhodium, ruthenium and iridium have been successfully developed. Even though outstanding results have been achieved in this area, so far relatively few catalysts for asymmetric hydrogenation have been applied to fine chemical industry [5-6]. Thus, many efforts are being made to rationally design highly active catalysts with a broad substrate scope. In the last few years, less expensive catalysts based on transition metals such as cobalt, copper, iron and palladium have afforded promising results. This review reports on the most relevant chiral catalysts for asymmetric hydrogenation of C=C, C=N and C=O bonds that were published from 2005 up today. Keywords: Asymmetric hydrogenation, homogeneous catalysis, enantiopure compounds, organic synthesis, metal complex, chiral ligands.