Asymmetric hydrogenation has evolved as one of the most powerful tools to construct stereocenters. However, the asymmetric hydrogenation of unfunctionalized tetrasubstituted acyclic olefins remains the pinnacle of asymmetric synthesis and an unsolved challenge. We report herein the discovery of an iridium catalyst for the first, generally applicable, highly enantio- and diastereoselective hydrogenation of such olefins and the mechanistic insights of the reaction. The power of this chemistry is demonstrated by the successful hydrogenation of a wide variety of electronically and sterically diverse olefins in excellent yield and high enantio- and diastereoselectivity.

中文翻译：

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未官能化的四取代无环烯烃的不对称氢化。

不对称氢化已发展成为构建立构中心的最强大工具之一。然而，未官能化的四取代无环烯烃的不对称氢化仍然是不对称合成和未解决挑战的顶峰。我们在此报告了用于此类烯烃的首次，普遍适用的高度对映和非对映选择性氢化的铱催化剂的发现以及该反应的机理见解。通过以优异的收率和高对映对映和非对映选择性成功地氢化了多种电子和空间上不同的烯烃，证明了这种化学的力量。