Efficient synthesis of tricarbonyl-manganese complexes for the design of planar chiral ligands

13 May 2011

Continuing on their pioneering studies, the Roses and co-workers show in this NJC Letter how phosphino and thienyl substituents are incorporated to (cyclohexadienyl)Mn(CO)3 systems, ultimately forming arenes or chiral cyclohexenones.
‘The new eta-5 complexes are particularly attractive, knowing that planar chiral ligands based on tricarbonyl-metal complexes are beginning to play important roles in enantioselective catalysis, with a “spectator” metal distinct from the catalytically active metal’, says Francoise Rose-Munch

So far, most of the previous examples relied on a planar chiral (η6-arene)Cr(CO)3 scaffold and more scarcely on (η5-Cp)Mn(CO)3. The latter compounds containing a cyclopentadienyl platform are the only tricarbonylmanganese complexes used as catalysts and up to now, complexes such as (η5-cyclohexadienyl)Mn(CO)3 had never been employed for the design of planar chiral ligands.

This NJC letter has been selected as a ‘Hot’, and will be of interest to organometallic chemists and the synthetic organic community alike, in the search of new routes to chiral systems.

Interested? Why not take a look at this NJC Letter and read the article now, FREE to access for a period of 4 weeks!
This article will be included in the NJC special issue in the Honour of Didier Astruc, on the occasion of his 65th birthday – Coming soon.