A miraculous chiral Ir–Rh bimetallic nanocatalyst for asymmetric hydrogenation of activated ketones

A chiral Ir–Rh bimetallic nanocatalyst was synthesized and applied in the asymmetric hydrogenation of activated ketones to chiral secondary alcohols with up to >99% ee, even in a scale-up reaction. More importantly, the catalyst could be reused 6 times with no loss in catalytic performance and metal leaching. Remarkably, the effect of the molar ratio of Ir to Rh is very significant.