Synthesis of Chiral Trifluoromethyl-Substituted Hydrazines via Pd-Catalyzed Asymmetric Hydrogenation and Reductive Amination

An efficient approach toward the synthesis of cyclic and linear chiral trifluoromethyl substituted hydrazines was developed by Pd-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of both N-acyl and N-aryl hydrazones in excellent yields and up to 97% ee. A successful reductive amination between trifluoromethyl substituted ketones and hydrazines was also achieved.