Fluorogenic probes for aldol reactions: tuning of fluorescence using π-conjugation systems

Fluorogenic aldehydes or probes for monitoring of the progress of aldol reactions have been developed. Fluorescence of benzaldehydes conjugated with aryl groups via a double or triple bond and of their aldol products was evaluated in aqueous solutions. Based on the fluorescence, fluorogenic aldol reaction substrates and retro-aldol reaction substrates were identified. Use of the probe system with optimal fluorescence properties for aldol reactions was demonstrated in assays with purified protein catalysts and with overproduced crude protein catalysts in cell lysates.     

Fluorescent detection of carbon-carbon bond formation

We have developed a new spectroscopic system for detecting carbon-carbon bond formation by fluorescence to enhance high-throughput catalyst screening and rapid characterization of catalysts on a small scale. Fluorogenic substrates composed of a fluorophore possessing an amino group are readily prepared as amides of alpha,beta-unsaturated carbonyl compounds and generally exhibit low fluorescence, while Michael or Diels-Alder reactions of these fluorogenic substrates provide products of significantly increased fluorescence. The product's fluorescence is approximately 20- to 100-fold higher than that of the substrate. The assay system was validated by screening potential catalysts of the Michael reaction and in solvent optimization experiments. The covalent combination of fluorophores possessing an amino group with alpha,beta-unsaturated carbonyl compounds should provide a diverse range of fluorogenic substrates that may be used to rapidly screen catalysts and to optimize reaction conditions.     

Highly anti-selective asymmetric aldol reactions using chiral zirconium catalysts. Improvement of activities, structure of the novel zirconium complexes, and effect of a small amount of water for the preparation of the catalysts

Catalytic asymmetric aldol reactions of silyl enol ethers with aldehydes (Mukaiyama aldol reactions) have been performed using novel chiral zirconium catalysts. The reactions proceeded in high yields under mild conditions, and anti-adducts were obtained in high diastereo- and enantioselectivities. The catalysts were first prepared from zirconium(IV) tert-butoxide (Zr(O(t)Bu)(4)), (R)-3,3'-diiodo-1,1'-binaphthalene-2,2'-diol ((R)-3,3'-I(2)BINOL), a primary alcohol, and a small amount of water. It was revealed that the primary alcohol played an important role in completing the catalytic cycle and that a small amount of water was essential for obtaining high selectivities. Moreover, activities of the chiral zirconium catalysts were enhanced by using new ligands, (R)-3,3'-I(2)-6,6'-X(2)BINOL (X = Br, I, C(2)F(5)), and it has been shown that even aldol reactions of less reactive substrates proceeded smoothly using the novel zirconium catalysts. Finally, NMR studies of these catalysts were performed, which suggested that the catalyst would form a dimeric structure and that the water affected the catalyst formation.     

Direct asymmetric aldol reactions inspired by two types of natural aldolases: water-compatible organocatalysts and Zn(II) complexes

In this article the utility of water-compatible amino-acid-based catalysts was explored in the development of diastereo- and enantioselective direct aldol reactions of a broad range of substrates. Chiral C(2)-symmetrical proline- and valine-based amides and their Zn(II) complexes were designed for use as efficient and flexible chiral catalysts for enantioselective aldol reactions in water, on water, and in the presence of water. The presence of 5 mol % of the prolinamide-based catalyst affords asymmetric intermolecular aldol reactions between unmodified ketones and various aldehydes to give anti products with excellent enantioselectivities. We also demonstrate aldol reactions of more demanding substrates with high affinity to water (i.e., acetone and formaldehyde). Newly designed serine-based organocatalyst promoted aldol reaction of hydroxyacetone leading to syn-diols. For presented catalytic systems organic solvent-free conditions are also acceptable, making the elaborated methodology interesting from a green chemistry perspectives.     

Carbon-carbon bonds by hydrolytic enzymes

Enzymes are efficient catalysts in synthetic chemistry, and their catalytic activity with unnatural substrates in organic reaction media is an area attracting much attention. Protein engineering has opened the possibility to change the reaction specificity of enzymes and allow for new reactions to take place in their active sites. We have used this strategy on the well-studied active-site scaffold offered by the serine hydrolase Candida antarctica lipase B (CALB, EC 3.1.1.3) to achieve catalytic activity for aldol reactions. The catalytic reaction was studied in detail by means of quantum chemical calculations in model systems. The predictions from the quantum chemical calculations were then challenged by experiments. Consequently, Ser105 in CALB was targeted by site-directed mutagenesis to create enzyme variants lacking the nucleophilic feature of the active site. The experiments clearly showed an increased reaction rate when the aldol reaction was catalyzed by the mutant enzymes as compared to the wild-type lipase. We expect that the new catalytic activity, harbored in the stable protein scaffold of the lipase, will allow aldol additions of substrates, which cannot be reached by traditional aldolases.     

Iron‐ and Bismuth‐Catalyzed Asymmetric Mukaiyama Aldol Reactions in Aqueous Media

We have developed asymmetric Mukaiyama aldol reactions of silicon enolates with aldehydes catalyzed by chiral Fe^II and Bi^III complexes. Although previous reactions often required relatively harsh conditions, such as strictly anhydrous conditions, very low temperatures (?78 °C), etc., the reactions reported herein proceeded in the presence of water at 0 °C. To find appropriate chiral water‐compatible Lewis acids for the Mukaiyama aldol reaction, many Lewis acids were screened in combination with chiral bipyridine L1 , which had previously been found to be a suitable chiral ligand in aqueous media. Three types of chiral catalysts that consisted of a Fe^II or Bi^III metal salt, a chiral ligand ( L1 ), and an additive have been discovered and a wide variety of substrates (silicon enolates and aldehydes) reacted to afford the desired aldol products in high yields with high diastereo‐ and enantioselectivities through an appropriate selection of one of the three catalytic systems. Mechanistic studies elucidated the coordination environments around the Fe^II and Bi^III centers and the effect of additives on the chiral catalysis. Notably, both Brønsted acids and bases worked as efficient additives in the Fe^II‐catalyzed reactions. The assumed catalytic cycle and transition states indicated important roles of water in these efficient asymmetric Mukaiyama aldol reactions in aqueous media with the broadly applicable and versatile catalytic systems.     

Artificial aldolases from peptide dendrimer combinatorial libraries

Peptide dendrimers were investigated as synthetic models for aldolase enzymes. Combinatorial libraries were prepared with aldolase active residues such as lysine and proline placed at the dendrimer core or near the surface. On-bead selection for aldolase activity was carried out using the dye-labelled 1,3-diketone 1a, suitable for covalent trapping of enamine-reactive side-chains, and the fluorogenic enolization probe 6. Aldolase dendrimers catalyzed the aldol reaction of acetone, dihydroxyacetone and cyclohexanone with nitrobenzaldehyde. Much like enzymes, the dendrimers exhibited strong aldolase activity in aqueous medium, but were also active in organic solvent. Dendrimer-catalyzed aldol reactions reached complete conversion in 3 h at 25 degrees C with 1 mol% catalyst and gave aldol products with up to 65% ee. A positive dendritic effect in catalysis was observed with both lysine and proline based aldolase dendrimer catalysts.     

Amino acid catalyzed direct asymmetric aldol reactions: a bioorganic approach to catalytic asymmetric carbon-carbon bond-forming reactions.

Direct asymmetric catalytic aldol reactions have been successfully performed using aldehydes and unmodified ketones together with commercially available chiral cyclic secondary amines as catalysts. Structure-based catalyst screening identified L-proline and 5,5-dimethyl thiazolidinium-4-carboxylate (DMTC) as the most powerful amino acid catalysts for the reaction of both acyclic and cyclic ketones as aldol donors with aromatic and aliphatic aldehydes to afford the corresponding aldol products with high regio-, diastereo-, and enantioselectivities. Reactions employing hydroxyacetone as an aldol donor provide anti-1,2-diols as the major product with ee values up to >99%. The reactions are assumed to proceed via a metal-free Zimmerman-Traxler-type transition state and involve an enamine intermediate. The observed stereochemistry of the products is in accordance with the proposed transition state. Further supporting evidence is provided by the lack of nonlinear effects. The reactions tolerate a small amount of water (<4 vol %), do not require inert reaction conditions and preformed enolate equivalents, and can be conveniently performed at room temperature in various solvents. In addition, reaction conditions that facilitate catalyst recovery as well as immobilization are described. Finally, mechanistically related addition reactions such as ketone additions to imines (Mannich-type reactions) and to nitro-olefins and alpha,beta-unsaturated diesters (Michael-type reactions) have also been developed.     

Fluorogenic aldehydes bearing arylethynyl groups: turn-on aldol reaction sensors for evaluation of organocatalysis in DMSO

Fluorogenic aromatic aldehydes bearing arylethynyl groups were developed. They were used for monitoring the reaction progress of organocatalytic aldol reactions in DMSO through an increase in the fluorescence intensity based on the formation of the florescent aldol product. The ratios of the fluorescence intensities of the aldols to the aldehydes were more than 300. These results suggest that the fluorescence assay system using the aldehyde is useful for the rapid identification of superior aldol catalysts and reaction conditions.     

Design and use of fluorogenic aldehydes for monitoring the progress of aldehyde transformations

We describe the first examples of fluorogenic aldehydes useful for monitoring many types of reactions including aldol reactions, allylations, and reductions. The fluorogenic aldehydes were constructed by covalent combination of a fluorophore and an aldehyde moiety via a linker. In the resulting single molecule, the aldehyde functioned as a quencher of the fluorophore's fluorescence. The reaction product, modified at the aldehyde functionality, no longer served as an effective quencher. The reaction products showed up to approximately 80-fold higher fluorescence than the aldehyde reactants.     

Small peptides catalyze highly enantioselective direct aldol reactions of aldehydes with hydroxyacetone: unprecedented regiocontrol in aqueous media

[reaction: see text] L-Proline-based small peptides have been developed as efficient catalysts for the asymmetric direct aldol reactions of hydroxyacetone with aldehydes. Chiral 1,4-diols 7, which are disfavored products in similar aldol reactions catalyzed by either aldolases or L-proline, were obtained in high yields and enantioselectivities of up to 96% ee with peptides 3 and 4 in aqueous media.     

Amidines, isothioureas, and guanidines as nucleophilic catalysts

Over the last ten years there has been a huge increase in development and applications of organocatalysis in which the catalyst acts as a nucleophile. Amidines and guanidines are often only thought of as strong organic bases however, a number of small molecules containing basic functional groups have been shown to act as efficient nucleophilic catalysts. This tutorial review highlights the use of amidine, guanidine, and related isothiourea catalysts in organic synthesis, as well as the evidence for the nucleophilic nature of these catalysts. The most common application of these catalysts to date has been in acyl transfer reactions, although the application of these catalysts towards other reactions is an increasing area of interest. In this respect, amidine and guanidine derived catalysts have been shown to be effective in catalysing aldol reactions, Morita-Baylis-Hillman reactions, conjugate additions, carbonylations, methylations, silylations, and brominations.     

Review of the aldol reaction

Aldol condensation is an important synthetic method widely used in organic synthesis. Development of catalytic methods that avoids the production of stoichiometric by-products while maintaining high levels of control available from stoichiometric processes provides an atom-economical alternative for these important transformations. Indeed, numerous catalysts for the aldol reaction have been reported in recent years, including enzymes, catalytic antibodies, organometals, organocatalysts, and small molecules. The direct aldol reaction is the most important reaction employed by synthetic chemists and is common in nature. Recently, various Lewis acids have been examined as catalysts for aldol reactions, but aldol condensation in a micellar medium has not been studied in detail so far. Because of stronger environmental concerns, organic reactions in green media, especially in water, have attracted more attention. It is believed that micelles act as nano reactors to enhance the reaction rates and give very good to excellent yields of end products.     

Unusual reversal of regioselectivity in antibody-mediated aldol additions with unsymmetrical methyl ketones

A catalytic regio- and enantioselective aldol reaction of various unsymmetrical methyl ketones with para-nitrobenzaldehyde has been developed using aldolase antibodies as the catalysts. It has been found that the sense and level of regioselectivity for the reactions catalysed by antibody 38C2 and 33F12 are highly dependent on the structure of both the donor and the acceptor but in contrast, antibodies 84G3 and 93F3 catalyse the exclusive formation of the linear regioisomer independent of the structure of the reactants examined. The level of enantiocontrol is very high for most reactions. Both linear aldol enantiomers could be accessed through aldol or retro-aldol reactions using the same antibody. Theoretical studies on regioisomeric α- and β-heteroatom substituted enamines derived from unsymmetrical ketones suggest that most of the linear aldol products formed in the presence of antibodies 84G3 and 93F3 must be formed from intermediate enamines which are not the thermodynamically most favourable.     

Catalytic asymmetric aldol reactions in aqueous media

Nature has perfected the stereospecific aldol reaction by using aldolase enzymes. While virtually all the biochemical aldol reactions use unmodified donor and acceptor carbonyls and take place under catalytic control in an aqueous environment, the chemical domain of the aldol addition has mostly relied on prior transformation of carbonyl substrates, and the whole process traditionally is carried out in anhydrous solvents. The area of aqua-asymmetric aldol reactions has received much attention recently in light of the perception both of its green chemistry advantages and its analogy to eon-perfected enzyme catalysis. Both chiral metal complexes and small chiral organic molecules have been recently reported to catalyze aldol reactions with relatively high chemical and stereochemical efficiency. This tutorial review describes recent developments in this area.     

Trost氮杂半冠醚手性配体在不对称催化反应中的应用

双功能手性金属络合物催化的不对称反应是目前有机化学研究的热点之一。本文综述了氮杂半冠醚手性配体与金属有机试剂络合的双金属催化剂,在催化不对称aldol反应、不对称Henry反应、不对称Michael反应、不对称Mannich反应、不对称Friedel-Crafts烷基化反应、不对称炔基化反应、不对称硅氰化反应、共聚反应、去对称化反应以及不对称Nozaki-Hiyama烯丙基化反应体系中的应用进展,重点介绍了不同催化体系对催化剂和反应底物之间立体效应和电子效应的影响,总结了控制反应立体选择性的规律以及有关催化反应的机理。     

Direct observation of enantioselective synergism at trimetallic centers

[structure: see text] [structure: see text] New oligomeric chiral macrocyclic ligands have been synthesized using an efficient self-assembly method. High enantioselective cooperativity in the catalytic asymmetric aldol reactions was directly observed using the conceptually novel chiral multinuclear complex catalysts.     

Proline-based dipeptides with two amide units as organocatalyst for the asymmetric aldol reaction of cyclohexanone with aldehydes

A series of proline-based dipeptide organocatalysts with two amide units (1-16) have been developed and evaluated in the direct catalytic asymmetric aldol reactions of aldehydes with cyclohexanone. These catalysts showed good solubility in organic solvents compared with their corresponding carboxyl terminal dipeptides. The robust amide bond formation allowed structural modifications and fine tuning of catalyst properties by varying the stereo and electronic effects of the terminal amide to affect the ability of hydrogen bonding formation between the catalysts and the substrates. The reactions proceeded smoothly in high yields (up to 99%), enantioselectivities (up to 98% ee) and anti-diastereoselectivities (up to 99:1) in the presence of bifunctional organocatalyst 4 under the optimal reaction conditions.     

C2, Symmetric Dibenzosuberanes as Templates for the Chirality Determination of Helicenes and Their Applications as Optically Switchable Memory Device

We have recently developed a new type of chiral templates, dibenzosuberanes. Thess C₂, symmetric diaryl modifiers have been successfully applied to the synthesis of chiral triarylcarbenium ions. They can serve as catalysts in the asymmetric Mukaiyama aldol reactions with moderate enantioselectivities of up to 50% [1]. We have subsequently found that one major side reaction between the catalyst and the substrate-silyl ketene acetal which releases extra silyl-X species is responsible for the erosion of asymmetric induction. The dibenzosuberane scaffold was found essential to prevent this type of side reaction. For the selection of carbenium counter ions, we have resorted to the chloride in order to completely suppress the undesired silyl catalysis [2].     

Asymmetric synthesis of beta-hydroxy amino acids via aldol reactions catalyzed by chiral ammonium salts

The Cinchona alkaloid derived chiral ammonium salt developed by Park and Jew functions as an effective catalyst for the synthesis of beta-hydroxy alpha-amino acids via asymmetric aldol reactions under homogeneous conditions. The syn diastereomers are obtained in good ee, and aryl-substituted aliphatic aldehydes are the best substrates for the reaction. These results represent the highest ee's obtained to date in direct aldol reactions of glycine equivalents catalyzed by inexpensive, readily prepared chiral ammonium salts.