Screening method for the evaluation of asymmetric catalysts for the reduction of aliphatic ketones

ATH reductions of aliphatic ketones in water catalyzed by ruthenium coordinated by prolinamide ligands produce alcohols with moderate enantiomeric excesses in most cases. A set of seven aliphatic ketones is proposed for a rapid evaluation of the enantioselectivity of catalysts by one-pot multi-substrates reduction. The screening of a library of prolinamides shows that according to the structure of the ketones different ligands give the best asymmetric inductions.