Chiral bifunctional NHC/guanidine ligands for asymmetric hydrogenation

We report the synthesis of chiral N-heterocyclic carbene/guanidine bifunctional ligands from readily available amino alcohols. The resulting chiral bifunctional catalysts are active in an asymmetric hydrogenation of ketones, and stereoinduction by the chiral groups can be observed. We can show that the chiral linker unit can be employed for the transfer of stereoinformation.