Aqueous chemoenzymatic one-pot enantioselective synthesis of tertiary α-aryl cycloketones via Pd-catalyzed C–C formation and enzymatic CC asymmetric hydrogenation

An aqueous chemoenzymatic cascade reaction combining Pd-catalyzed C–C formation and enzymatic CC asymmetric hydrogenation (AH) was developed for enantioselective synthesis of tertiary α-aryl cycloketones in good yields and excellent enantioselectivities. The stereopreference of the enzyme in AH of α-aryl cyclohexenones was studied. An enantiocomplementary enzyme was obtained by site-directed mutation.