Ruthenium catalyzed asymmetric transfer hydrogenation employing novel bidentate abnormal NHC ligands

N-Heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) have been successfully employed as ligands in iridium, rhodium and ruthenium catalyzed transfer hydrogenation reactions. However, there are few reports on the use of catalysts containing chiral NHC ligands for this particular transformation. Furthermore, to the best of our knowledge there are no reports on the use of catalysts based on abnormal NHC ligands in asymmetric transfer hydrogenations. In this work we have prepared novel chiral bidentate NHCs that have the potential for an abnormal binding mode to transitionmetals. Ruthenium complexes of these ligands were employed in the asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of ketones in 2-propanol.