Iridium-Catalyzed Asymmetric Hydrogenation of Benzo[b]thiophene 1,1-Dioxides.

An efficient iridium-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of substituted benzothiophene 1,1-dioxides is described. The use of iridium complexes with chiral pyridyl phosphinite ligands provides access to highly enantiomerically enriched sulfones with substituents at the 2- and 3-position. Sulfones of this type are of interest as core structures of agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals. Moreover, they can be further reduced to chiral 2,3-dihydrobenzothiophenes.