The latest research findings by Professor Lyu Hui of the College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences and Professor Yuan Jiaxin of the School of Electrical Engineering and Automation at Wuhan University were published in Nature Communications.

Their work, Efficient synthesis of chiral vicinal diamines with four contiguous stereocenters via sequential dynamic kinetic resolution of 2,3-diamino-1,4-diketones, has achieved the efficient asymmetric synthesis of chiral vicinal diamines containing four contiguous stereocenters.

The researchers employed an Ir/f-PNNO catalytic system to study the asymmetric hydrogenation of racemic 2,3-diamino-1,4-diketones, enabling the synthesis of chiral vicinal diamines with four continuous stereocenters.

The reaction exhibited excellent enantioselectivity and diastereoselectivity, stereospecifically producing a single target chiral molecule out of 32 possible reduction products.

The reaction demonstrates broad substrate compatibility and high catalytic efficiency, achieving gram-scale product preparation with just 0.1 mol% catalyst and offering a straightforward, practical new approach for the efficient synthesis of chiral vicinal diamines.

The resulting chiral vicinal diamines and amino alcohol units are versatile for chemical transformations, with potential applications in the synthesis of ligands and chiral functional molecules.

The dual dynamic kinetic resolution strategy developed in this paper provides a novel approach for the efficient construction of linear molecules with multiple contiguous chiral centers, holding significant academic value and potential for practical applications.