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Free keywords:
asymmetric catalysis; chemoselectivity; enantioselectivity; hydrogenation; organocatalysis
Abstract:
Selective reduction without metals: An imidazolidinone salt effectively catalyzes the highly enantioselective biomimetic transfer hydrogenation of α,β‐unsaturated aldehydes to give the saturated analogues using a synthetic dihydropyridine cofactor (see scheme). Remarkably only one enantiomer forms regardless of the configuration of the enal starting material.