Highly efficient and recyclable chiral Pt nanoparticle catalyst for enantioselective hydrogenation of activated ketones

Thermoregulated phase-separable chiral Pt nanoparticle catalyst exhibited excellent ee (>99%) in the enantioselective hydrogenation of activated ketones for preparing chiral α-hydroxy acetals and chiral 1,2-diols. More importantly, the chiral catalyst could be easily separated by phase separation and directly reused in the next cycle without any loss in catalytic activity and enantioselectivity, even in the gram-scale reaction. The leaching of Pt was under the detection limit of the instrument.