Enantioselective Construction of Axially Chiral Amino Sulfide Vinyl Arenes by Chiral Sulfide‐Catalyzed Electrophilic Carbothiolation of Alkynes

The enantioselective construction of axially chiral compounds by electrophilic carbothiolation of alkynes is disclosed for the first time. This enantioselective transformation is enabled by the use of a Ts‐protected bifunctional sulfide catalyst and Ms‐protected ortho‐alkynylaryl amines (Ts=tosyl; Ms=mesyl). Both electrophilic arylthiolating and electrophilic trifluoromethylthiolating reagents are suitable for this reaction. The obtained products of axially chiral vinyl–aryl amino sulfides can be easily converted into biaryl amino sulfides, biaryl amino sulfoxides, biaryl amines, vinyl–aryl amines, and other valuable difunctionalized compounds.     

Enantioselective Construction of Axially Chiral Amino Sulfide Vinyl Arenes by Chiral Sulfide-Catalyzed Electrophilic Carbothiolation of Alkynes

The enantioselective construction of axially chiral compounds by electrophilic carbothiolation of alkynes is disclosed for the first time. This enantioselective transformation is enabled by the use of a Ts-protected bifunctional sulfide catalyst and Ms-protected ortho-alkynylaryl amines (Ts=tosyl; Ms=mesyl). Both electrophilic arylthiolating and electrophilic trifluoromethylthiolating reagents are suitable for this reaction. The obtained products of axially chiral vinyl–aryl amino sulfides can be easily converted into biaryl amino sulfides, biaryl amino sulfoxides, biaryl amines, vinyl–aryl amines, and other valuable difunctionalized compounds.     

Synthesis of Novel 1,4‐Bissulfonamide Ligands for Enantioselective Addition of Diethylzinc to Aldehydes

Several novel chiral sulfonamide ligands based on (1R,2S,4R,5S)‐1,4‐diamino‐2,5‐dimethylcyclohexane skeleton have been synthesized and their application in the enantioselective addition of diethylzinc to aldehydes was investigated in the presence of Ti(OⁱPr)₄. The effect of ligands, temperature and the loading amount of ligands was studied. Under optimized conditions, enantioselective addition of diethylzinc with various aryl aldehydes and aliphatic aldehydes proceeded smoothly and afforded chiral secondary alcohols in up to 88% ee.     

Titanium–salan‐catalyzed asymmetric sulfoxidations with H2O2: design of more versatile catalysts

Titanium–salan complexes with 3,3’‐diphenyl substituents in the salicylidene rings of the salan ligand are efficient sulfoxidation catalysts, capable of catalyzing the asymmetric oxidation of bulky aryl benzyl sulfides with H₂O₂ with good to high enantioselectivities. In this paper, substituent effects on titanium‐salan‐catalyzed enantioselective oxidation of sulfides to sulfoxides have been systematically investigated. Titanium–salan catalysts with halogen substituents at the 5,5’‐positions (3,3’‐H₂dihydrogen substituted) have been found to catalyze the oxidation of both bulky aryl benzyl sulfides and small alkyl phenyl sulfides with good to high enantioselectivities. Kinetic data witness a direct attack of the sulfide to the electrophilic active oxygen species; a consistent reaction mechanism is proposed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

PdII‐Catalyzed Enantioselective C(sp3)−H Activation/Cross‐Coupling Reactions of Free Carboxylic Acids

Pd^II‐catalyzed enantioselective C(sp³)?H cross‐coupling of free carboxylic acids with organoborons has been realized using either mono‐protected amino acid (MPAA) ligands or mono‐protected aminoethyl amine (MPAAM) ligands. A diverse range of aryl‐ and vinyl‐boron reagents can be used as coupling partners to provide chiral carboxylic acids. This reaction provides an alternative approach to the enantioselective synthesis of cyclopropanecarboxylic acids and cyclobutanecarboxylic acids containing α‐chiral tertiary and quaternary stereocenters. The utility of this reaction was further demonstrated by converting the carboxylic acid into cyclopropyl amine without loss of optical activity.     

Chiral Cp‐Rhodium(III)‐Catalyzed Asymmetric Hydroarylations of 1,1‐Disubstituted Alkenes

Metal‐catalyzed functionalizations at the ortho position of a directing group have become an efficient bond‐forming strategy. A wide range of transformations that employ Cp*Rh^III catalysts have been described, but despite their synthetic potential, enantioselective variants that use chiral versions of the Cp* ligand remain scarce (Cp*=pentamethyl cyclopentadienyl). Cyclopentadienyl compounds with an atropchiral biaryl backbone are shown to be suitable ligands for the efficient intramolecular enantioselective hydroarylation of aryl hydroxamates. Dihydrofurans that bear methyl‐substituted quaternary stereocenters are thus obtained by C? H functionalization under mild conditions.     

Influence of substituents in the salicylaldehyde‐derived Schiff bases on vanadium‐catalyzed asymmetric oxidation of sulfides

A series of chiral Schiff bases ( L ¹ – L ⁵ ) with different substituents in the salicylidenyl unit were prepared from condensation of 3‐aryl‐5‐ tert ‐butylsalicylaldehyde derivatives and optically active amino alcohols. Bromination of 3‐phenyl‐5‐ tert ‐butylsalicylaldehyde gave an unexpected product 3‐(4‐bromophenyl)‐5‐bromosalicylaldehyde, from which the corresponding Schiff base ligands L ⁶ and L ⁷ , derived from (S)‐valinol and (S)‐ tert ‐leucinol, respectively, were prepared. Ligands L ¹ – L ⁷ were applied to the vanadium‐catalyzed asymmetric oxidation of aryl methyl sulfides. Under the optimal conditions, the oxidation of the thioanisole with H₂O₂ as oxidant in CH₂Cl₂ catalyzed by VO(acac)₂‐ L ¹ – L ⁷ gives good yields (74–83%) with moderate enantioselectivity (58–77% ee). Ligand L ⁷ , containing a 4‐bromophenyl group on the 3‐position and a Br atom on the 5‐position of the salicylidenyl moiety, displays an 80–90% ee for vanadium‐catalyzed oxidation of methyl 4‐bromophenyl sulfide and methyl 2‐naphthyl sulfide. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Access to P‐ and Axially Chiral Biaryl Phosphine Oxides by Enantioselective CpxIrIII‐Catalyzed C−H Arylations

An enantioselective C?H arylation of phosphine oxides with o‐quinone diazides catalyzed by an iridium(III) complex bearing an atropchiral cyclopentadienyl (Cp^x) ligand and phthaloyl tert‐leucine as co‐catalyst is reported. The method allows access to a) P‐chiral biaryl phosphine oxides, b) atropo‐enantioselective construction of sterically demanding biaryl backbones, and also c) selective assembly of axial and P‐chiral compounds in excellent yields and diastereo‐ and enantioselectivities. Enantiospecific reductions provide monodentate chiral phosphorus(III) compounds having structures and biaryl backbones with proven importance as ligands in asymmetric catalysis.     

Asymmetric oxidation of sulfides catalyzed by chiral (salen)Mn(III) complexes with a pyrrolidine backbone

Catalytic properties of a series of chiral (pyrrolidine salen)Mn(III) complexes for asymmetric oxidation of aryl methyl sulfides were evaluated. Moderate activity, good chemical selectivity and low enantioselectivity were attained with iodosylbenzene as a terminal oxidant. Enantioselectivity of sulfide oxidation was affected slightly by polar solvent and the sulfoxidation carried out in THF for thioanisole and in CH₃CO₂Et for electron‐deficient sulfides gave better enatioselctivities. The addition of the donor ligand PPNO (4‐phenylpyridine N‐oxide) or MNO (trimethylamine N‐oxide) only has a minor positive effect on the enantioselectivity. Also explored was the steric effect of the N_aza‐substituent in the backbone of (pyrrolidine salen)Mn(III) complexes on the enantioselectivity of sulfide oxidation. The sulfides' access pathway is discussed based on the catalytic results. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

General Enantioselective C−H Activation with Efficiently Tunable Cyclopentadienyl Ligands

Cyclopentadienyl (Cp) ligands enable efficient steering of various transition‐metal‐catalyzed transformations, in particular enantioselective C−H activation. Currently only few chiral Cp ligands are available. Therefore, a conceptually general approach to chiral Cp ligand discovery would be invaluable as it would enable the discovery of applicable Cp ligands and to efficiently and rapidly vary and tune their structures. Herein, we describe the three‐step gram‐scale synthesis of a structurally diverse and widely applicable chiral Cp ligand collection (JasCp ligands) with highly variable and adjustable structures. Their modular nature and their amenability to rapid structure variation enabled the efficient discovery of ligands for three enantioselective Rh^III‐catalyzed C−H activation reactions, including one unprecedented transformation. This novel approach should enable the discovery of efficient chiral Cp ligands for various further enantioselective transformations.     

Chiral Iodine‐Catalyzed Dearomatizative Spirocyclization for the Enantioselective Construction of an All‐Carbon Stereogenic Center

The first enantioselective dearomatizative spirocyclization of 1‐hydroxy‐N‐aryl‐2‐naphthamide derivatives has been accomplished by chiral organoiodine catalysis to stereoselectively create an all‐carbon stereogenic center, providing a straightforward approach to access spirooxindole derivatives in good yields and with high to excellent levels of enantioselectivity. Chiral hypervalent phenyl‐λ³‐iodanes generated in situ from the oxidation of the chiral phenyl iodine actually participate in the asymmetric oxidative dearomatizative spirocyclization reaction.     

Asymmetric oxidation of sulfides with H2O2 catalyzed by titanium complexes of Schiff bases bearing a dicumenyl salicylidenyl unit

The sterically hindered Schiff bases (L³–L⁵), prepared from 3,5‐dicumenyl salicylaldehyde and chiral amino alcohols, were used in combination with Ti(OiPr)₄ for asymmetric oxidation of aryl methyl sulfides with H₂O₂ as terminal oxidant. Among the ligands L³–L⁵, L⁴ with a tert‐butyl group in the chiral carbon of the amino alcohol moiety gave the best result with 89% yield and 73% ee for the sulfoxidation of thioanisole under optimal conditions [with 1 mol% of Ti(OiPr)₄ in a molar ratio of 100:1:1.2:120 for sulfide:Ti(OiPr)₄:ligand:H₂O₂ in CH₂Cl₂ at 0 °C for 3 h]. The reaction afforded good yield (84%) with a moderate enantioselectivity (62% ee) even with a lower catalyst loading from 1.0 to 0.5 mol%. The oxidations of methyl 4‐bromophenyl sulfide and methyl 4‐methoxyphenyl sulfide with H₂O₂ catalyzed by the Ti(OiPr)₄–L⁴ system gave 79–84% yields and 54–59% ee of the corresponding sulfoxides in CH₂Cl₂ at 20 °C. The chiral induction capability of the cumenyl‐modified sterically hindered Schiff bases for sulfoxidation was compared with the conventional Schiff bases bearing tert‐butyl groups at the 3,5‐positions of the salicylidenyl unit. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Readily Accessible Class of Chiral Cp Ligands and their Application in RuII‐Catalyzed Enantioselective Syntheses of Dihydrobenzoindoles

Chiral cyclopentadienyl (Cp^x) ligands have a large application potential in enantioselective transition‐metal catalysis. However, the development of concise and practical routes to such ligands remains in its infancy. We present a convenient and efficient two‐step synthesis of a novel class of chiral Cp^x ligands with tunable steric properties that can be readily used for complexation, giving Cp^xRh^I, Cp^xIr^I, and Cp^xRu^II complexes. The potential of this ligand class is demonstrated with the latter in the enantioselective cyclization of azabenzonorbornadienes with alkynes, affording dihydrobenzoindoles in up to 98:2 e.r., significantly outperforming existing binaphthyl‐derived Cp^x ligands.     

Efficient asymmetric addition of diethylzinc to aldehydes using C2‐novel chiral pyridine β‐amino alcohols as chiral ligands

A series of novel C₂‐symmetric chiral pyridine β‐amino alcohol ligands have been synthesized from 2,6‐pyridine dicarboxaldehyde, m‐phthalaldehyde and chiral β‐amino alcohols through a two‐step reaction. All their structures were characterized by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR and IR. Their enantioselective induction behaviors were examined under different conditions such as the structure of the ligands, reaction temperature, solvent, reaction time and catalytic amount. The results show that the corresponding chiral secondary alcohols can be obtained with high yields and moderate to good enantiomeric excess. The best result, up to 89% ee, was obtained when the ligand 3c (2S,2′R)‐2,2′‐((pyridine‐2,6‐diylbis(methylene))bisazanediyl))bis(4‐methyl‐1,1‐diphenylpentan‐1‐ol) was used in toluene at room temperature. The ligand 3g (2S,2′R)‐2,2′‐((1,3‐phenylenebis(methylene))bis(azanediyl))bis(4‐methyl‐1,1‐diphenylpentan‐1‐ol) was prepared in which the pyridine ring was replaced by the benzene ring compared to 3c in order to illustrate the unique role of the N atom in the pyridine ring in the inductive reaction. The results indicate that the coordination of the N atom of the pyridine ring is essential in the asymmetric induction reaction. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Diverse Approaches for Enantioselective C−H Functionalization Reactions Using Group 9 CpxMIII Catalysts

Transition-metal-catalyzed C−H functionalization reactions with Cp*M^III catalysts (M=Co, Rh, Ir) have found a wide variety of applications in organic synthesis. Albeit the intrinsic difficulties in achieving catalytic stereocontrol using these catalysts due to their lack of additional coordination sites for external chiral ligands and the conformational flexibility of the Cp ligand, catalytic enantioselective C−H functionalization reactions using the Group 9 metal triad with Cp-type ligands have been intensively studied since 2012. In this minireview, the progress in these reactions according to the type of the chiral catalyst used are summarized and discussed. The development of chiral Cp^x ligands the metal complexes thereof, artificial metalloenzymes, chiral carboxylate-assisted enantioselective C−H activations, enantioselective alkylations assisted by chiral carboxylic acids or chiral sulfonates, and chiral transient directing groups are discussed.     

Enantioselective Synthesis of N,S‐Acetals by an Oxidative Pummerer‐Type Transformation using Phase‐Transfer Catalysis

Reported is the first enantioselective oxidative Pummerer‐type transformation using phase‐transfer catalysis to deliver enantioenriched sulfur‐bearing heterocycles. This reaction includes the direct oxidation of sulfides to a thionium intermediate, followed by an asymmetric intramolecular nucleophilic addition to form chiral cyclic N,S‐acetals with moderate to high enantioselectivites. Deuterium‐labelling experiments were performed to identify the stereodiscrimination step of this process. Further analysis of the reaction transition states, by means of multidimensional correlations and DFT calculations, highlight the existence of a set of weak noncovalent interactions between the catalyst and substrate that govern the enantioselectivity of the reaction.     

Chiral Sulfinamide-Olefin Ligands: Switchable Selectivity in Rhodium-Catalyzed Asymmetric 1,2-Addition of Arylboronic Acids to Aliphatic α-Ketoesters

Simple and readily available chiral N‐(sulfinyl)allylamines have been developed as efficient novel ligands for the rhodium‐catalyzed enantioselective 1,2‐addition of arylboronic acids to challenging aliphatic α‐ketoesters. By employing the linear or branched sulfinamide‐olefin ligands, interesting enantioselectivity as well as regioselectivity reversal in the related asymmetric additions were observed.     

Rapid Synthesis of Chiral 1,2‐Bisphosphine Derivatives through Copper(I)‐Catalyzed Asymmetric Conjugate Hydrophosphination

1,2‐Bisphosphines have been identified as one class of important and powerful chiral ligands in asymmetric catalysis with transition metals. Herein, a copper(I)‐catalyzed asymmetric hydrophosphination of α,β‐unsaturated phosphine sulfides was developed with the assistance of “soft–soft” interaction between copper(I)‐catalyst and the phosphine sulfide moiety, which afforded 1,2‐bisphosphine derivatives with diversified electronic nature and steric hindrance in high to excellent yields with high to excellent enantioselectivity. Moreover, the challenging catalytic asymmetric hydrophosphination/protonation reaction was achieved with excellent enantioselectivity. Strikingly, the dynamic kinetic resolution of racemic diarylphosphines was also successfully carried out with high to excellent diastereo‐ and enantioselectivities. Interestingly, the nucleophilic copper(I)‐diphenylphosphide species was characterized by ³¹P NMR spectrum and mass spectrum. At last, three products were transformed to chiral 1,2‐bisphosphines, which were employed as ligands in Rh‐catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of α‐amino‐α,β‐unsaturated ester. The α‐amino acid derivative was produced in high enantioselectivity, which demonstrated the utility of the present methodology.     

Structurally Precise Silver Sulfide Nanoclusters Protected by Rhodium(III) Octahedra with Aminothiolates

A 60‐nuclear silver sulfide nanocluster with a highly positive charge ( 1 ) has been synthesized by mixing an octahedral Rh^III complex with 2‐aminoethanethiolate ligands, silver(I) nitrate, and d ‐penicillamine in water under mild conditions. The spherical surface of 1 is protected by the chiral octahedral Rh^III complex, with cleavage of the C?S bond of the d ‐penicillamine supplying the sulfide ions. Although 1 does not contain d ‐penicillamine, it is optically active because of the enantiomeric excess of the Rh^III molecules induced by chiral transfer from d ‐penicillamine. 1 can accommodate/release external Ag⁺ ions and replace inner Ag⁺ ions by Cu⁺ ions. The study demonstrates that a thiolato metal complex and sulfur‐containing amino acid can be used as cluster‐surface‐protecting and sulfide‐supplying regents, respectively, for creating chiral, water‐soluble, structurally precise silver sulfide nanoclusters, the properties of which are tunable through the addition/removal/exchange of Ag⁺ ions.     

Asymmetric sulfoxidation of prochiral sulfides using aminoalcohol derived chiral C3-symmetric trinuclear vanadium Schiff base complexes

A series of trimeric variants of the efficient and well known Bolm’s chiral vanadium salen catalysts are reported. These C₃-symmetric trinuclear chiral Schiff bases were synthesized by condensing a variety of trialdehydes with optically active aminoalcohols. The catalytic activity of the chiral vanadium complexes of these ligands was investigated for the enantioselective oxidation of prochiral sulfides using hydrogen peroxide as an oxidant. The procedure afforded the corresponding sulfoxide in good yield and the enantioselectivities were comparable to those obtained with the mononuclear complexes.