New Phosphinite Thioglycosides for Asymmetric Hydrogenation

Significance

The authors developed new phosphinite thioglycoside ligands in asymmetric hydrogenation of enamides for the synthesis of α-amino acids in high enantioselectivities. Interestingly, by using commercially accessible d-sugars as catalyst precursors, both proteogenic and nonproteogenic enantiomers of α-amino acid derivatives were obtained in quantitative yield and with excellent ee values.