Recent advances in iridium-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation: new catalysts, substrates and applications in total synthesis.

Iridium-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation has emerged as a highly efficient method for the synthesis of enantiomerically pure compounds. This account summarizes our recent efforts in this field. We have developed a new type of P,O-ligand that was successfully applied to the asymmetric hydrogenation of α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds. Furthermore we have demonstrated the potential of known iridium catalysts in the hydrogenation of α,β-unsaturated boronic esters. And finally we could demonstrate the utility of iridium-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation in the formal synthesis of the natural product Platensimycin.