Highly enantioselective iridium-catalyzed hydrogenation of 2-aryl allyl phthalimides

The iridium-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of 2-aryl allyl phthalimides to afford enantioenriched β-aryl-β-methyl amines is presented. Recently developed Ir-MaxPHOX catalysts are used for this enantioselective transformation. The mild reaction conditions and the feasible removal of the phthalimido group makes this catalytic method easily scalable and of great interest to afford chiral amines. The importance of this new methodology is exemplified by the formal synthesis of (R)-Lorcaserin, OTS514 and enantiomerically enriched 3-methyl indolines.