Ferrocene-based bidentate phosphonite ligands for rhodium(I)-catalyzed enantioselective hydroformylation

A new class of chiral modular bidentate phosphonite ligands has been synthesized in good overall yields by using cheap trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane and ferrocene as starting materials, and applied in the Rh(I)-catalyzed asymmetric hydroformylation of vinyl acetate and styrene to afford the corresponding optically active aldehydes with good regioselectivity (up to 16.9 b/l ratio) and moderate to good enantioselectivity (up to 83% ee). The substituents on the backbone of the ligands are found to exhibit a remarkable effect on both the regio- and enantioselectivity of the catalysis.