P-Stereogenic pincer iridium complexes: Synthesis, structural characterization and application in asymmetric hydrogenation

•The novel P-stereogenic pincer iridium complexes have been synthesized.•The complexes have been fully characterized by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, 31P NMR, HRMS, and/or single crystal X-ray diffraction.•The ORTEP diagram of complex shows that the coordination geometry around the iridium atom is approximately octahedral.•The P-stereogenic pincer iridium complexes were used as catalysts for the hydrogenation of ketones, olefins and quinoline.

P-Stereogenic PNP type pincer iridium complexes PNPtBuMeIrH2Cl (3) and PNPtBuMeIrH3 (4) were synthesized in reasonable yields and characterized by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, 31P NMR, HRMS and/or single crystal X-ray diffraction. The ORTEP diagram shows that the coordination geometry around the iridium center of complex 3 is approximately octahedral. The chlorinated iridium complex (3) and/or the trihydride iridium complex (4) were used as catalysts in the asymmetric hydrogenation of ketones, olefins and quinoline to provide the desired products with up to 17% enantioselectivity.

Graphical abstractP-Stereogenic PNP pincer-iridium complexes were synthesized and characterized by NMR, HRMS and/or single crystal X-ray diffraction. They were used as catalysts in the asymmetric hydrogenation of ketones, olefins and quinoline to provide the desired products in up to full conversion and 17% enantioselectivity.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide