Borohydride intermediates pave the way for magnesium-catalysed enantioselective ketone reduction.

Vladislav VasilenkoClemens K BlasiusHubert WadepohlLutz H Gade

Published in: Chemical communications (Cambridge, England) (2020)

A magnesium precatalyst for the highly enantioselective hydro-boration of C[double bond, length as m-dash]O bonds is reported. The mechanistic basis of the unprecedented selectivity of this transformation has been investi-gated experimentally by isolation of catalytic intermediates and theoretically by DFT calculations. The facile formation of a magnesium borohydride species is critical in overcoming competing pathways in the selectivity-determining insertion step.

Keyphrases

density functional theory
molecular dynamics
molecular docking
molecular dynamics simulations
structural basis
highly efficient
transition metal
genetic diversity
electron transfer