Development of efficient methods for catalytic enantioselective synthesis has been an important subject for the practical synthesis of optically active organic compounds.1) Numerous methods of enantioselective synthesis employing various catalysts such as transition metal complexes coordinated with many types of chiral ligands have been reported for more than three decades. [1][2][3][4][5][6] For the development of efficient chiral catalysts, creation of new types of ligands is a most significant strategy. Among various types of chiral ligands, diphosphines are the most effective and are widely applicable in the catalytic asymmetric hydrogenation of prochiral compounds such as olefins, ketones, and imines using transition metal (rhodium, ruthenium, iridium, etc.) complexes as catalyst. We previously proposed a novel idea, "respective control concept" for designing new chiral ligands, 7-10) and developed efficient diphosphine ligands such as (2S-cis)-4-(dicyclohexylphosphino)-2-[(diphenylphosphino)methyl]-1-pyrrolidinecarboxylic acid 1,1-dimethylethyl ester (BCPM) and its analogs, 8,[11][12][13] (4R-trans)-[(2,2-dimethyl-1,3-dioxolane-4,5-diyl)bis(methylene)]bis[bis(4-methoxy-3,5-dimethylphenyl)phosphine] (MOD-DIOP) and its analogs, [14][15][16][17] etc. (Fig. 1) for rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of some prochiral ketones (ketopantolactone, a-and bamino ketones, etc.), and olefins (itaconic acid and its derivatives, N-acyldehydroamino acids, etc.). Furthermore, we revealed that phosphines bearing electron-donating groups such as cyclohexyl groups, p-(dimethylamino)phenyl groups, and p-methoxy-m,mЈ-dimethylphenyl groups enhance not only the catalytic activity but also the enantioselectivity in the rhodium-catalyzed hydrogenations. The p-methoxym,mЈ-dimethylphenyl (abbreviated to MOD) group was found to be a useful component for developing efficient ligands on the basis of its steric effect (m-Me) as well as its electronic effect (p-MeO, m-Me).15) We also reported in preliminary communications the design and preparation of axially chiral diphosphines, [18][19][20][21] which were found to be very efficient ligands for ruthenium-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of a b-keto ester or rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of an a-amino ketone. In this article we describe in detail the synthesis of optically pure 3,3Ј-dimethoxy-2,2Ј,4,4Ј-tetramethyl-1,1Ј-biphenyls 8a-c bearing one or two 6,(6Ј)-dicyclohexylphosphino group(s) and/or 6,(6Ј)-diphenylphosphino group(s), and an application to rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation.
Results and DiscussionThe synthetic route of axially dissymmetric biphenyldiphosphine ligands 8a-c bearing one or two dicyclohexylphosphino group(s) and/or one or two diphenylphosphino group(s) is described in Chart 1 (8a-c were abbreviated to BIMOP, Cy-BIMOP, and MOC-BIMOP, respectively). Iodination of 2,6-dimethylnitrobenzene (1) was carried out selectively at the 3-position by heating with iodine at 90°C for 4 d in the presence of periodic acid in acetic acid containing d...