Front Cover Picture: Iridium‐Catalyzed Enantioselective Transfer Hydrogenation of Ketones Controlled by Alcohol Hydrogen‐Bonding and sp³‐C−H Noncovalent Interactions (Adv. Synth. Catal. 21/2020)

Abstract

The front cover picture, designed by three groups from Hokkaido (Japan: ramanus rose), Ibaraki (Japan: plum), and Ubon Ratchathani (Thailand: lotus) illustrates the enantioselective transfer hydrogenation reactions of ketones with formic acid under iridium catalysis. Rationally designed prolinol‐phosphine chiral ligands are highly effective for the hydrogenation of ketones including tert‐alkylaryl ketones in up to 99% yield and with up to 99.8% ee. DFT calculations showed non‐covalent interactions including O–H⋅⋅⋅O/sp3‐C–H⋅⋅⋅O two‐point hydrogen‐bonding and C–H/π interactions. Details of this work can be found in the communication on pages 4655–4661 (H. Murayama, Y. Heike, K. Higashida, Y. Shimizu, N. Yodsin, Y. Wongnongwa, S. Jungsuttiwong, S. Mori, M. Sawamura, Adv. Synth. Catal. 2020, 362, 4655–4661; DOI: 10.1002/adsc.202000615).