Cinchona-modified Ru catalysts for enantioselective heterogeneous hydrogenation of aromatic ketones

In this communication, we describe the highly enantioselective heterogeneous hydrogenation of aromatic ketones catalyzed by Ph3P stabilized Ru/γ-Al2O3, and modified by chiral diamines derived from cinchona alkaloids. A broad range of aromatic ketones over this catalyst can be hydrogenated to the corresponding alcohols with impressive enantioselectivity.