Aqueous chemoenzymatic one-pot enantioselective synthesis of tertiary α-aryl cycloketones via Pd-catalyzed C–C formation and enzymatic C＝C asymmetric hydrogenation.

An aqueous chemoenzymatic cascade reaction combining Pd-catalyzed C–C formation and enzymatic C＝C asymmetric hydrogenation (AH) was developed for enantioselective synthesis of tertiary α-aryl cycloketones in good yields and excellent enantioselectivities. The stereopreference of the enzyme in AH of α-aryl cyclohexenones was studied. An enantiocomplementary enzyme was obtained by site-directed mutation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]