Highly enantioselective iridium-catalyzed hydrogenation of heteroaromatic compounds, quinolines.

The highly enantioselective hydrogenation of quinoline derivatives is developed using [Ir(COD)Cl]2/(R)-MeO-Biphep/I2 system, and this methodology has been applied to the asymmetric synthesis of three naturally occurring alkaloids angustureine, galipinine, and cuspareine. This method provided an efficient access to a variety of optically active tetrahydroquinolines with up to 96% ee.