A symmetric hydrogenation of the activated carbonyl group of 1,1,1-trifluoro-2,4-diketones was studied over Pt/Al2O3 modified by various chiral 1,2-aminoalcohols and amines. The best chiral modifiers were cinchonidine and O-methyl-cinchonidine, which enhanced the chemoselectivity above 99%. The ee varied in the range of 22-86% depending on the steric hindrance around the nonactivated carbonyl group of the substrate. In one case the ee inverted from (S)- to the (R)-enantiomer by simply increasing the solvent polarity. The different reactivities of the substrates are correlated with their adsorption strength and the keto-enol equilibration, as only the keto form of the 2-carbonyl group is assumed to react on the chirally modified Pt surface. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.