Methyl 2-oxo-3-phenylpropanoate → Methyl 2-hydroxy-3-phenylpropanoate

Participants

Reaction Steps

Methyl 2-oxo-3-phenylpropionate (16d, R18=Ph, R19=methyl) was hydrogenated according to General Procedure B in THF at 20.7 barg (300 psig) hydrogen at ambient temperature using bis(1,5-cyclooctadiene)rhodium trifluoromethanesulfonate (2.3 mg; 5 μmol; 0.01 equiv) and ligand (R,S)-1g (3.7 mg; 6 μmol; 0.012 equiv) for 6 hours to afford 30% conversion to methyl 2-hydroxy-3-phenylpropionate (17d, R18=Ph, R19methyl) with 85.4% ee as determined by chiral GC analysis.

Provenance & Evidence