Hydrogen/Deuterium Isotopic Labeling Study of Enantioselective Hydrogenation of (E)-2-Methyl-2-butenoic Acid over a Cinchonidine-modified Pd/C Catalyst

In the enantioselecitve hydrogenation of (E)-2-methyl-2-butenoic acid (1) over a cinchonidine-modified Pd/C catalyst, the addition of hydrogen preferentially proceeds from the Re-Si enantioface of the C=C double bond of 1 to yield (S)-2-methylbutanoic acid ((S)-3). Double bond migration of 1 takes place under the reaction conditions and is followed by immediate hydrogenation to yield 3 in a poor enantiomeric purity. Deuterium labeling experiments at 0.1 MPa and 1.9 MPa of D-2 verified the previous assumption of competitive double bond migration. The combination of isotopic labeling experiments and chiral analysis revealed that the double bond migration of 1 proceeds with the same enantiofacial differentiation as the hydrogenation of 1. Thus, interaction of 1 with cinchonidine adsorbed on the Pd surface may control the configuration of the double bond migration and the hydrogenation.