Mn(i) phosphine-amino-phosphinites: a highly modular class of pincer complexes for enantioselective transfer hydrogenation of aryl-alkyl ketones

A series of Mn(i) catalysts with readily accessible and more π-accepting phosphine-amino-phosphinite (P′(O)N(H)P) pincer ligands have been explored for the asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of aryl-alkyl ketones which led to good to high enantioselectivities (up to 98%) compared to other reported Mn-based catalysts for such reactions. The easy tunability of the chiral backbone and the phosphine moieties makes P′(O)N(H)P an alternative ligand framework to the well-known PNP-type pincers.