Asymmetric hydrogenation of pro-chiral ketones catalyzed by chiral Ru(II)-benzene organometallic compounds containing amino acid based aroylthiourea ligands

Abstract A series of Ru(II)-benzene organometallic compounds ( 1 – 6 ) constructed from [RuCl 2 (η 6 -benzene)] 2 and chiral aroylthiourea ligands (L1-L6) obtained from D/L-phenylalanine, was fully characterized. The chiral complexes along with 2-propanol and NaOH effected the asymmetric hydrogenation of aromatic ketones at 82 °C within 8–10 h. The reduction reactions proceeded with excellent conversions and enantiomeric excesses (up to 99%).