(S)-(−)-Fluorenylethylchloroformate (FLEC); preparation using asymmetric transfer hydrogenation and application to the analysis and resolution of amines

Fluorenylethylchoroformate (FLEC) is a valuable chiral derivatisation reagent that is used for the resolution of a wide variety of chiral amines. Herein, we describe an improved preparation of (S)-(−)-FLEC using an efficient asymmetric catalytic transfer hydrogenation as the key step. We also demonstrate the application of FLEC as a chiral Fmoc equivalent for chiral resolution, with facile deprotection, of tetrahydroquinaldines, and its capacity for inducing regioselective outcomes in nitration reactions.     

The furan approach to oxacycles. Part 5: Synthesis of a chiral butenolide, building block towards biologically interesting natural products

We describe an efficient new approach for the synthesis of a chiral butenolide that is based on the oxidation of a chiral furan ring with singlet oxygen in the presence of Hünig’s base, followed by Luche reduction and in situ lactonization.     

Brønsted-acid and Brønsted-base catalyzed Diels-Alder reactions

The enantioselective Diels-Alder reaction is one of the most important reactions for the synthesis of complex molecules. It provides access to chiral six-membered carbocyclic compounds containing up to four stereogenic centers in a single step. Asymmetric catalysis in the Diels-Alder reaction has mainly been realized using chiral Lewis acids. In this perspective, we describe several cases of chiral Br?nsted-acid and Br?nsted-base catalyzed Diels-Alder reactions, providing an overview of this rapidly growing field.     

Synergistic Kinetic Resolution and Asymmetric Propargyl Claisen Rearrangement for the Synthesis of Chiral Allenes

The asymmetric propargyl Claisen rearrangement provides a convenient entry to chiral allene motifs. Herein, we describe the development of a kinetic resolution and asymmetric rearrangement of racemic propargyl vinyl ethers. This transformation afforded chiral allene products along with the enantiomerically enriched substrate in good yields with excellent diastereo‐ and enantioselectivity. The complete chirality transfer and facially selective rearrangement enabled the simultaneous construction of an axially chiral allenic unit and a quaternary carbon stereocenter.     

Stereoselective synthesis of 2,3,4-trisubstituted tetrahydrothiophenes

We describe an efficient new approach for the synthesis of highly substituted chiral tetrahydrothiophenes, based on the oxidation of a chiral furan substrate with singlet oxygen, followed by intramolecular hetero Michael addition.     

Asymmetric Synthesis of Vicinal Tetrasubstituted Diamines via Reductive Coupling of Ketimines Templated by Chiral Diborons

We herein describe the chiral diboron-templated asymmetric homocoupling of aryl alkyl ketimines, providing for the first time a series of chiral vicinal tetrasubstituted diamines with excellent ee values and good to high yields. The powerful and efficient diboron-participated [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement is successfully demonstrated by the homocoupling of a variety of ketimines thanks to the rational design and engineering of chiral diborons. Systematic DFT studies suggest that two chiral diborons adopt different conformational assembling strategies to couple the diboron template with ketimine substrates in their tight concerted transition states to ensure the excellent enantioselectivities. The synthetic value of chiral vicinal tetrasubstituted diamines is demonstrated by the asymmetric α-bromination of aliphatic aldehydes by employing a chiral vicinal tetrasubstituted diamine-based organocatalyst.     

新型手性环状胺膦配体的设计合成及在酮的不对称还原中的应用

新型手性配体的设计合成是不对称催化研究的重要内容,其中手性胺膦配体因同时含有"软"的磷原子和"硬"的氮原子而具有丰富的配位化学性能和优秀的不对称诱导能力.本文总结了本研究组最近设计合成的手性环状胺膦配体的制备、表征及其在铁催化酮的不对称还原中的应用.手性1,2-环己二胺与双(2-甲酰基苯基)苯基膦通过[2+2]环缩合反应能够顺利获得手性22元环的亚胺膦配体21,该配体经Na BH4还原后生成大环胺膦配体22.利用手性大环胺膦配体22与Fe3(CO)12原位生成的催化体系,能够高活性、高对映选择性地实现包括杂环芳香酮在内50多种酮的不对称转移氢化和不对称氢化反应,其S/C(底物与催化剂的摩尔比)最高可达5000:1,产物手性芳香醇的光学纯度高达99%ee.     

固态"绝对"不对称合成

光学活性生物分子的形成是世界进化历史中一个重要过程。"绝对"不对称合成, 即在没有任何外界手性诱导试剂作用下或在圆偏振光影响下的封闭体系中的不对称合成, 为前生物时期天然手性的成因提供了解释。本文将综述通过非手性分子形成的手性晶体的固相反应进行的"绝对"不对称合成。     

Synthesis of New Phase-Transfer Catalysts and Their Application in Asymmetric Alkylation

Despite phase transfer catalysis (PTC) is an important and useful method in organic synthesis, asymmetric synthesis using chiral phase-transfer catalyst has not been well documented and limited number of chiral phase-transfer catalyst have been developed^[1].In 1989,O'Donnell published his pioneering work in the asymmetric synthesis of α-amino acids by enantioselective alkylation of a prochiral protected glycine derivative using chiral phase-transfer catalyst^[2]. Since then, several groups reported their improvements on enantioselectivity and applicability on this useful synthetic reaction^[3,4]. However, almost all of the chiral phase-transfer catalysts reported so far are the derivatives of cinchona^[5]. In this presentation, we wish to describe the design and synthesis of a new type of chiral phase-transfer catalyst based on the camphor and its application in asymmetric alkylation of tert-bntyl glycinate-benzophenone Schiff base.     

Enantioselective Nanoporous Carbon Based on Chiral Ionic Liquids

One of the greatest challenges in modern chemical processing is to achieve enantiospecific control in chemical reactions using chiral media such as chiral mesoporous materials. Herein, we describe a novel and effective synthetic pathway for the preparation of enantioselective nanoporous carbon, based on chiral ionic liquids (CILs). CILs of phenylalanine (CIL(Phe)) are used as precursors for the carbonization of chiral mesoporous carbon. We employ circular dichroism spectroscopy, isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), and chronoamperometry in order to demonstrate the chiral nature of the mesoporous carbon. The approach presented in this paper is highly significant for the development of a new type of chiral porous materials for enantioselective chemistry. In addition, it contributes significantly to our understanding of the structure and nature of chiral nanoporous materials and surfaces.     

Advances in enantiomeric resolution on monolithic chiral stationary phases in liquid chromatography and electrochromatography

During the last decade, chiral monolithic stationary phases have been prepared and used for rapid enantioseparations in CEC and HPLC. Various chiral selectors are used to prepare these CSPs. The preparation, properties, and applications of these CSPs are discussed in this paper. Attempts have been made to describe optimization strategies and the chiral recognition mechanisms. A comparison of chiral separations in CEC and HPLC is described. Efforts have also been made to predict the future perspectives and challenges of chiral monolithic stationary phases. The most effective chiral selectors include polysaccharides, cyclodextrins, and macrocyclic glycopeptide antibiotics. These chiral phases produced acceptable analytical enantiomeric separation of a variety of racemates. However, the development of these CSPs for preparative‐scale separations is needed.     

Helical Chiral Pyridine N‐Oxides: A New Family of Asymmetric Catalysts

Optically active chiral alkyl chlorides are valuable compounds because of their bioactivity and versatile synthetic utility. Accordingly, the ring opening of epoxides with a chloride nucleophile stands as an important goal in asymmetric catalysis. We describe herein recent advances in the design and development of chiral pyridine N‐oxide catalysts for the enantioselective synthesis of chlorohydrins.     

Development of Asymmetric Reactions Catalyzed by Chiral Organotin‐Alkoxide Reagents

Asymmetric catalysis under almost‐neutral reaction conditions is key for the efficient synthesis of optically active polar molecules. We have developed catalytic enantioselective reactions of acyclic or cyclic alkenyl esters by using an (S)‐BINOL‐derived chiral tin‐dibromide reagent that possesses a bulky aryl group at the 3 or 3′ position as the chiral pre‐catalyst in the presence of a sodium alkoxide and an alcohol, in which a chiral tin alkoxide bromide is generated in situ and recycled with the assistance of an alcohol. In this Personal Account, we describe three types of asymmetric transformation that proceed through a chiral tin enolate: 1) The asymmetric aldol reaction of alkenyl esters or unsaturated lactones with aldehydes or isatins; 2) the asymmetric three‐component Mannich‐type reaction of alkenyl esters and related cycloaddition reactions; and 3) the asymmetric N‐nitroso aldol reaction of unsaturated lactones with nitrosoarenes.     

Highly enantioselective transfer hydrogenation of alpha,beta-unsaturated ketones

We describe an efficient and highly enantioselective conjugate transfer hydrogenation of alpha,beta-unsaturated ketones that is catalyzed by a salt made from tert-butyl valinate and a recently introduced powerful chiral phosphoric acid catalyst (TRIP).     

New monodentate chiral phosphite ligands for asymmetric hydrogenation

We report the synthesis of new chiral monodentate phosphite ligands with a biphenyl backbone, the axial chirality of which is introduced early in the synthesis and locked by a chiral alkylenedioxy bridge. We also describe results obtained with these ligands in rhodium-catalysed asymmetric hydrogenation of various substrates.     

From local adsorption stresses to chiral surfaces: (R,R)-tartaric acid on Ni(110).

The chiral molecule (R,R)-tartaric acid adsorbed on nickel surfaces creates highly enantioselective heterogeneous catalysts, but the nature of chiral modification remains unknown. Here, we report on the behavior of this chiral molecule with a defined Ni(110) surface. A combination of reflection absorption infrared spectroscopy, scanning tunneling microscopy, and periodic density functional theory calculations reveals a new mode of chiral induction. At room temperatures and low coverages, (R,R)-tartaric acid is adsorbed in its bitartrate form with two-point bonding to the surface via both carboxylate groups. The molecule is preferentially located above the 4-fold hollow site with each carboxylate functionality adsorbed at the short bridge site via O atoms placed above adjacent Ni atoms. However, repulsive interactions between the chiral OH groups of the molecule and the metal atoms lead to severely strained adsorption on the bulk-truncation Ni(110) surface. As a result, the most stable adsorption structure is one in which this adsorption-induced stress is alleviated by significant relaxation of surface metal atoms so that a long distance of 7.47 A between pairs of Ni atoms can be accommodated at the surface. Interestingly, this leads the bonding Ni atoms to describe a chiral footprint at the surface for which all local mirror symmetry planes are destroyed. Calculations show only one chiral footprint to be favored by the (R,R)-tartaric acid, with the mirror adsorption site being unstable by 6 kJ mol(-1). This energy difference is sufficient to enable the same local chiral reconstruction and motif to be sustained over 90% of the system, leading to an overall highly chiral metal surface.     

Optical characterization of chiral plasmonic nanostructures

Chiral plasmonic nanomaterials can have circular dichroism and optical rotatory dispersion effects orders of magnitude larger than those observed in ordinary chiral molecules. Understanding this fascinating class of materials has proved challenging and has motivated several research groups to develop entirely new experimental techniques for characterizing chirality driven optical properties. In this review, we first describe the classical method of circular dichroism which measures linear, far-field responses from an ensemble population. We then go on to describe several of the more recently developed methods to probe chiral nanostructures as they expand into the domains of non-linear, near-field, and single particle measurements including spatially and spectrally resolved techniques.     

A chiral A2 B2 macrocyclic minireceptor with extreme enantioselectivity

We describe a novel macrocyclic minireceptor that is assembled from a chiral 1,2-diamine and 5-allyloxyisophthalic acid. After immobilization on HPLC silica, the chiral macrocycle preferentially binds the L-enantiomers of simple amino acid derivatives, with enantioselectivities values up to 3.0 kcal/mol. [structure: see text]     

Catalytic Access to Chiral δ-Lactams via Nucleophilic Dearomatization of Pyridine Derivatives

Nitrogen-bearing rings are common features in the molecular structures of modern drugs, with chiral δ-lactams being an important subclass due to their known pharmacological properties. Catalytic dearomatization of preactivated pyridinium ion derivatives emerged as a powerful method for the rapid construction of chiral N-heterocycles. However, direct catalytic dearomatization of simple pyridine derivatives are scarce and methodologies yielding chiral δ-lactams are yet to be developed. Herein, we describe an enantioselective C4-dearomatization of methoxypyridine derivatives for the preparation of functionalised enantioenriched δ-lactams using chiral copper catalysis. Experimental ¹³C kinetic isotope effects and density functional theory calculations shed light on the reaction mechanism and the origin of enantioselectivity.