Direct enantioselective hydrogenation of unsaturated compounds to generate chiral three-dimensional motifs is one of the most straightforward and important approaches in synthetic chemistry. We realized the Ru(II)-NHC-catalyzed asymmetrichydrogenation of 2-quinolones under mild reaction conditions. Alkyl-, aryl- and halogen-substituted optically active dihydro-2-quinolones were obtained in high yields