Highly Enantioselective Hydrogenation of β-Ketoenamides with the Rh-ZhangPhos Catalyst

A series of β-ketoenamides have been successfully synthesized and applied in the enantioselective hydrogenation with the Rh-ZhangPhos catalyst. This methodology provides an efficient access to a variety of optically active β-amino ketones with up to 99% enantiomeric excess ( ee ). β-Amino ketones can be converted to chiral γ-arylamines in one step without loss of enantioselectivity. Furthermore, direct hydrogenation of β-ketoenamide to chiral 1,3-amino alcohol is also tested with extremely high enantioselectivity and diastereoselectivity.