New chiral ligands from isosorbide: application in asymmetric transfer hydrogenation

New chiral beta-amino alcohols have been designed and synthesized from isosorbide, a by-product from the starch industry. These new ligands have been synthesized in three steps from isosorbide in good yields and have been used in asymmetric transfer hydrogenation reaction with Run complexes. One of these catalysts also demonstrated good catalytic activity and good enantioselectivity. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.