Fumin Chen, Yu Chen, Xiao-Yong Chang, Dongxu He, Qingjing Yang, David Zhigang Wang, Chen Xu, Peiyuan Yu, Xiangyou Xing
The prevalence of chirality, or, handedness in biological world is a fundamental phenomenon and a characteristic hallmark of life. Thus, understanding the origin of enantio-selection, i.e., the sense and magnitude of asymmetric induction, has been a long-pursued goal in asymmetric catalysis. Herein, we demonstrated a polarizability-derived electronic effect that was shown to be capable of rationalizing a broad range of stereochemical observations made in the field of asymmetric catalysis. This effect provided a consistent enantio-control model for the prediction of major enantiomers formed in a ruthenium-catalyzed asymmetric transfer hydrogenations of ketones...
April 22, 2024: Nature Communications