A concise synthesis of a symmetrical biaryl diphosphine ligand bearing 3, 5-dimethylphenyl substituents at phosphorus is described. The ruthenium catalysts [diphosphine RuCl2 diamine] containing the new ligand Xyl-TetraPHEMP were found to be as active and as selective as the state-of-the-art catalysts for homogeneous asymmetric ketone hydrogenation.
