Abstract

The manuscript gives an overview mainly on the results performed at the Department of Organic Chemistry the University of Szeged on the enantioselective hydrogenation of activated ketones of various structures on Pt/alumina catalysts modified with cinchona alkaloids. Relevant results by other research groups are also referred too. The review covers the literature till the end of 2004.

Keywords: cinchonidine, Orito reaction, chemisorption mechanism, dodecahydrocinchonidine, methyl pyruvate