Stereoselective Hydrogenation ofCCBonds: Application to Drug and Natural Product Synthesis

Asymmetric homogeneous hydrogenation is perhaps one of the most researched areas in homogeneous catalysis; thus, it is now used in numerous innovative applications in stereoselective syntheses of many chiral pharmaceutical and natural products. Metal complexes, derived from transition metals, like Rh, Ru, Ir, and so on, and chiral ligands (usually mono‐ or diphosphine ligands), are widely used as catalysts in asymmetric alkene hydrogenation as a result of their efficiency in the preparation of enantiopure compounds with excellent atom economy. This chapter provides many interesting examples of homogeneous enantio‐ and diastereoselective hydrogenation of CC bonds, highlighting the utility of these methods as useful synthetic tools for the construction of stereogenic centers in stereoselective drug and natural product syntheses.