Counterion Enhanced Organocatalysis: A Novel Approach for the Asymmetric Transfer Hydrogenation of Enones.

We present a novel strategy for organocatalytic transfer hydrogenations relying on an ion-paired catalyst of natural l-amino acids as main source of chirality in combination with racemic, atropisomeric phosphoric acids as counteranion. The combination of a chiral cation with a structurally flexible anion resulted in a novel chiral framework for asymmetric transfer hydrogenations with enhanced selectivity through synergistic effects. The optimized catalytic system, in combination with a Hantzsch ester as hydrogen source for biomimetic transfer hydrogenation, enabled high enantioselectivity and excellent yields for a series of α,β-unsaturated cyclohexenones under mild conditions. Moreover, owing to the use of readily available and chiral pool-derived building blocks, it could be prepared in a straightforward and significantly cheaper way compared to the current state of the art.