Asymmetric syntheses

A hydrogenation process which comprises reacting a prochiral compound (which is a compound having the potential to be converted to a chiral product in the hydrogenation process) or chiral compound (which is a compound which has one or more centers of asymmetry) in the presence of an optically active metal-ligand complex catalyst to produce an optically active product (which is a mixture of stereoisomers which rotates the plane polarized light due to an excess of one of the steroisomers over the others), said optically metal-ligand complex catalyst comprising a metal complexed with an optically active ligand having the formula ##STR20## wherein each Ar group is the same or different and is a substituted or unsubstituted aryl radical;

• Y is an m-valent substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbon radical selected form alkylene, alkylene-oxy-alkylene, arylene, and arylene-(CH.sub.2).sub.y --(Q).sub.n --(CH.sub.2).sub.y -arylene;
• each Ar contains from 6 to 18 carbon atoms Y' contains from 2 to 30 carbon atoms;
• each y is the same or different and is a value of 0 to 1;
• each n is the same or different and is a value of 0 or 1;
• each Q is the same or different and is a substituted or unsubstituted divalent bridging group selected from --C.sup.1 R.sup.2, --O--, --S--, --NR.sup.3 --, SiR.sup.4 R.sup.5 --, and --CO--, wherein R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 are the same or different and are hydrogen or a substituted or unsubstituted radical selected from alkyl or 1 to 12 carbon atoms, phenyl, tolyl and anisyl, and R.sup.3, R.sup. 4 and R.sup.5 are the same or different and are a radical selected from hydrogen or methyl;
• and m is a value of from 2 to 6.