Substituted imidazoles and oxazoles were respectively hydrogenated into the corresponding chiral imidazolines and oxazolines (up to 99% ee). The highly enantioselective hydrogenation was achieved by using the chiral ruthenium catalyst, which is generated from Ru(η(3)-methallyl)(2)(cod) and a trans-chelating chiral bisphosphine ligand, PhTRAP. This is the first successful catalytic asymmetric reduction of 5-membered aromatic rings containing two or more heteroatoms.

The reduction of quinolines selectively took place on their carbocyclic rings to give 5,6,7,8-tetrahydroquinolines, when the hydrogenation was conducted in the presence of a Ru(η(3)-methallyl)2(cod)-PhTRAP catalyst. The chiral ruthenium catalyst converted 8-substituted quinolines into chiral 5,6,7,8-tetrahydroquinolines with up to 91 : 9 er.

The asymmetric hydrogenation of pyrimidines proceeded with high enantioselectivity (up to 99% ee) using an iridium catalyst composed of [IrCl(cod)]2, a ferrocene-containing chiral diphosphine ligand (Josiphos), iodine, and Yb(OTf)3 (cod = 1,5-cyclooctadiene). The chiral catalyst converted various 4-substituted pyrimidines into chiral 1,4,5,6-tetrahydropyrimidines in high yield. The lanthanide triflate is crucial for achieving the high enantioselectivity as well as for activating the heteroarene substrate.

A variety of 3-substituted benzisoxazoles were reduced with hydrogen using the chiral ruthenium catalyst, {RuCl(p-cymene)[(R,R)-(S,S)-PhTRAP]}Cl. The ruthenium-catalyzed hydrogenation proceeded in high yield in the presence of an acylating agent, affording -substituted o-hydroxybenzylamines with up to 57% ee. In the catalytic transformation, the N-O bond of the benzisoxazole substrate is reductively cleaved by the ruthenium complex under the hydrogenation conditions. The C-N double bond of the resulting imine is saturated stereoselectively through the PhTRAP-ruthenium catalysis. The hydrogenation produces chiral primary amines, which may work as catalytic poisons, however, the amino group of the hydrogenation product is rapidly acylated when the reaction is conducted in the presence of an appropriate acylating agent, such as Boc 2 O or Cbz-OSu.