Phosphite-thioether/selenoether Ligands from Carbohydrates: An Easily Accessible Ligand Library for the Asymmetric Hydrogenation of Functionalized and Unfunctionalized Olefins

A large family of phosphite-thioether/selenoether ligands has been easily prepared from accessible L-(+)-tartaric acid and D-(+)-mannitol and applied in the M-catalyzed (M=Ir, Rh) asymmetric hydrogenation of a broad number of substrates (46 in total). Its highly modular architecture has been crucial to maximize the catalytic performance. Improving most of the reported approaches, this ligand family presents a broad substrate scope. By selecting the ligand parameters high enantioselectivities (ee's up to 99 %) have therefore been achieved in a broad range of both, functionalized and unfunctionalized substrates. Interestingly, both enantiomers of the hydrogenation products can be usually achieved by changing the ligand parameters.