Enantioselective Synthesis of (S)- and (R)-Tolterodine by Asymmetric Hydrogenation of a Coumarin Derivative Obtained by a Heck Reaction

An efficient and short enantioselective synthesis of (S)- and (R)-Tolterodine was performed by asymmetric hydrogenation of a coumarin intermediate, easily obtained by Heck reaction from cheap and commercially available starting material.