Enantioselective addition of phenylacetylene to aldehydes catalyzed by 1,3-aminophenol ligand

The 1,3-aminophenol ligand (R)-1 was found to be a good catalyst for the zinc phenylacetylene addition to aldehydes. The high activity and enantioselectivity could be improved upon by basic additives. The enantioselectivity follows a linear free energy relationship with higher enantioselectivity obtained for the more reactive aryl aldehydes.     

Asymmetric synthesis of chiral glutaric acid derivatives via Rh-catalyzed enantioselective hydrogenation

The first Rh-catalyzed enantioselective hydrogenation of dimethyl 2-methyleneglutarate and its derivatives has been reported. For the hydrogenation of dimethyl 2-methyleneglutarate with a chiral ferrocene-based monodentate phosphoramidite ligand (FAPhos), good enantioselectivity (over 90% ee) with full conversions was achieved. In contrast, the hydrogenation of substrates bearing an aryl substituent at a methylene moiety proved to be more difficult, in which the best enantioselectivity of up to 81% ee was obtained by the use of a P-stereogenic BoPhoz-type ligand.     

Studies on the rhodium- and ruthenium-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of α-dehydroamino acids using a family of chiral dipyridylphosphine ligand (P-Phos)

The applications of the chiral dipyridylphosphine ligand P-Phos and its derivatives Tol-P-Phos and Xyl-P-Phos in Ru- and Rh-catalyzed hydrogenations of the methyl esters of a variety of (Z)-2-acetamido-3-arylacrylic acids have been studied systematically. The results show that the electronic and steric properties of these ligands have significant influences on the enantioselectivity of the reduction. Rh and Ru complexes of the same dipyridylphosphine ligand family exhibit different trends in enantioselectivity toward the same substrate.     

Malonate-type bis(oxazoline) ligands with sp hybridized bridge carbon: synthesis and application in Friedel-Crafts alkylation and allylic alkylation

A series of simple and new C₂-symmetric diphenylmethylidene malonate-type bis(oxazoline) ligands were synthesized and applied to the Friedel-Crafts reaction and allylic alkylation. The Cu(II) complex of ligand 4b bearing the benzyl group afforded good to excellent enantioselectivity for the F-C adducts (up to >99% ee) between indole and alkylidene malonate, and the palladium complex of ligand 4c bearing the phenyl group afforded excellent enantioselectivity (up to 94% ee) for the allylic alkylation product.     

Enantioselective addition of organolithium reagents to imines mediated by C2-symmetric bis(aziridine) ligands

The C₂-symmetric bis(aziridine) ligands 1–5 have been screened in the enantioselective addition of organolithium reagents to imines. Ligand 1 (used in stoichiometric amounts) was found to be superior in terms of chemical yield and enantioselectivity, the best result being 90% yield and 89% e.e. in the addition of vinyllithium to imine 6a. Use of ligand 1 in substoichiometric amounts gave poorer yield and lower enantioselectivity. The enantioselectivity of the reaction was investigated as a function of substrate, reagent, stoichiometry and temperature, but no firm mechanistic conclusions could be drawn. Preliminary results with deuterium-labelled methyllithium indicate complexation/exchange processes involving ligand, reagent and substrate.     

Catalytic asymmetric deprotonation of a phosphine borane: comparison of two-ligand and one-ligand catalysis

The catalytic asymmetric deprotonation of tert-butyldimethylphosphine borane using s-BuLi or n-BuLi and sub-stoichiometric amounts of (?)-sparteine under one-ligand and two-ligand manifolds has been investigated. Using s-BuLi, slightly higher enantioselectivity was obtained using two-ligand catalysis (use of sub-stoichiometric (?)-sparteine in the presence of a stoichiometric amount of a second achiral ligand) compared to one-ligand catalysis (use of sub-stoichiometric (?)-sparteine only). With n-BuLi, two-ligand catalysis using LiDMAE (DMAE = dimethylaminoethanol) as the stoichiometric ligand was the only method for obtaining good yield and enantioselectivity. In this case, one-ligand catalysis failed as the (?)-sparteine was not turned over.     

Synthesis of enantiomerically enriched amines by chiral ligand mediated addition of organolithium reagents to imines

The effect of the imine and ligand structure on the enantioselective addition of organolithiums to imines has been studied. Thus, (−)-sparteine-mediated additions of MeLi and/or n-BuLi to p-anisidine derived phenylimine 1a afforded the corresponding amines with modest e.e.s. The use of bulkier or more reactive imines (naphthyl or tosyl imines) resulted in loss of enantioselectivity. The best enantioinduction with this ligand was obtained with enolizable imines 8 and 10. When bis(oxazolidines) were used as chiral ligands, a strong influence of their structure in the enantioselectivity of the addition of MeLi and n-BuLi to phenylimine 1a was observed.     

Synthesis of N,N-dimethyl-2-amino-1,2-dicyclohexylethanol and its application in the enantioselective conjugate addition of diethylzinc to enones: a convenient upgrade of the chiral ligand via hydrogenation

The effectiveness of N,N-dimethyl-2-amino-1,2-diphenylethanol as a chiral ligand was significantly improved via simple hydrogenation of the phenyl rings. Both the catalytic activity and the enantioselectivity of the resulting new ligand in the asymmetric conjugate addition of diethylzinc to enones were found to be superior to the original phenyl analog.     

Diamidophosphites with isomeric carborane fragments: a comparison of catalytic activity in asymmetric Pd-catalyzed allylic substitution reactions

New chiral diamidophosphite ligands containing electron-donating 9-meta-carborane and electron-withdrawing 1-meta-carborane substituents have been synthesized. The ligand 3a with an electron-donating group demonstrated high enantioselectivity in Pd-catalyzed allylic substitution reactions with C-, S- and N-nucleophiles (up to 98% ee). The isomeric diamidophosphite 3b bearing an electron-withdrawing substituent showed in all cases, moderate-to-poor conversion and lower enantioselectivity.     

Asymmetric Kumada-Corriu cross-coupling reaction with Pd2(dba)3 and an N-Ar axially chiral mimetic-type ligand catalyst

A catalyst comprised of Pd₂(dba)₃·CHCl₃ and an N-Ar axially chiral mimetic-type ligand, (S)-N-[2-(diphenylphosphanyl)naphthalene-1-yl]-2-(piperidinylmethyl)piperidine, provides good enantioselectivities for the asymmetric Kumada-Corriu cross-coupling reaction of 1-phenylethylmagnesium chloride and E-β-bromostyrene derivatives with which it is more difficult to achieve high enantioselectivity. Furthermore, in the case of styrene derivatives bearing both vinyl and aryl bromide groups, the chemoselective asymmetric cross-coupling reaction of the vinyl bromide group is observed. This N-Ar axially chiral mimetic-type ligand allows easy synthesis of a wide variety of analogues, and starting from the initial ligand, the enantioselectivity of coupling products is improved by modifying the structure in the ligand.     

Rhodium-catalysed asymmetric hydrosilylation of ketones using HETPHOX ligands

The HETPHOX ligand class was applied to the rhodium-catalysed asymmetric hydrosilylation of a range of substituted acetophenones. Enantioselective hydrosilylation of acetophenone with the tert-butyl substituted HETPHOX ligand gave (R)-phenylethanol in excellent enantioselectivity (84% ee) and in good conversion (80%). When applied to the hydrosilylation of other ketones conversions up to 93% and enantioselectivities up to 88% were observed.     

The synthesis of chiral amino diol tridentate ligands and their enantioselective induction during the addition of diethylzinc to aldehydes

A series of C₂-symmetric chiral amino diol tridentate ligands 3a–g were prepared from achiral bulky organolithiums, achiral bulky primary amines, and optically active epichlorohydrin (ECH). The prepared C₂-symmetric chiral amino diol tridentate ligands were capable of inducing enantioselectivity in the model reaction of aromatic and aliphatic aldehydes with diethylzinc with an ee of up to 96%. The enantioselectivity can be modulated by adjusting the steric hindrance of the achiral reagents employed in the synthesis of the chiral ligand. The configuration of the addition product depended on the configuration of the amino diol ligands, which can be simply controlled as desired by using the ECH with the desired configuration during the preparation of the ligand.     

Rhodium/chiral diene-catalyzed asymmetric methylation of N-sulfonylarylimines with trimethylboroxine

A hydroxorhodium complex coordinated with a chiral diene ligand catalyzed the asymmetric addition of trimethylboroxine to N-sulfonylarylimines to give high yields of chiral 1-aryl-1-ethylamines with high enantioselectivity.     

Asymmetric addition of phenylacetylene to aldehydes catalyzed by soluble optically active polybinaphthols ligand

A chiral polymer ligand was synthesized by the polymerization of (S)-5,5′-dibromo-6,6′-dibutyl-2,2′-binaphthol (S-M-1) with (S)-2,2′-bishexyloxy-1,1′-binaphthyl-6,6′-boronic acid (S-M-2) via Pd-catalyzed Suzuki reaction. The application of the chiral polymer ligand to the asymmetric addition of phenylethynyl zinc to various aldehydes has been studied. The results show that the soluble chiral polybinaphthols ligand in combination with Et₂Zn and Ti(OⁱPr)₄ can exhibit excellent enantioselectivity for phenylacetylene addition to both aromatic and aliphatic aldehydes. The catalytically active center of the repeating unit S-1 used as a catalyst produced the opposite configuration of the propargylic alcohols to that of S-1, on the contrary, the chiral polymer gave the same configuration as the optically active binaphthol moiety of the polybinaphthols ligand. Moreover, the chiral polymer ligand can be easily recovered and reused without loss of catalytic activity as well as enantioselectivity.     

Cobalt-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of ketones: A remarkable additive effect on enantioselectivity

A chiral cobalt pincer complex, when combined with an achiral electron-rich mono-phosphine ligand, catalyzes efficient asymmetric hydrogenation of a wide range of aryl ketones, affording chiral alcohols with high yields and moderate to excellent enantioselectivities (29 examples, up to 93% ee). Notably, the achiral mono-phosphine ligand shows a remarkable effect on the enantioselectivity of the reaction.     

Screening of ligands in the asymmetric metallocenethiolatocopper(I)-catalyzed allylic substitution with Grignard reagents

Screening of metallocenethiolate ligands for copper(I)-catalyzed substitution of allylic acetates with Grignard reagents has been carried out. The previously used ligand, lithium (R,S_p)-2-(1-dimethylaminoethyl)ferrocenylthiolate (4a), possessing both central and planar chirality, was the starting point for the screening. It was found that the diastereomeric ligand lithium (R,R_p)-2-(1-dimethylaminoethyl)ferrocenylthiolate (4b) exhibiting reversed planar chirality gave increased enantioselectivity in the allylic substitution, at least when cinnamyl acetate was used as a substrate. The ruthenocene-based ligand lithium (R,S_p)-2-(1-dimethylaminoethyl)ruthenocenylthiolate (4c) gave an enhanced reaction rate, but lower chiral induction. The use of disulfide bis[(R,S_p)-2-(1-dimethylaminoethyl)ferrocenyl]disulfide (7a) as a ligand precursor worked well but resulted in lower enantioselectivity.     

Reaction of ω-nitrostyrene with diethyl malonate in the presence of chiral nickel(II) complexes

Single-ligand complexes of nickel(II) with chiral diamines based on L-proline and (S)-camphor efficiently catalyze addition of diethyl malonate to ω-nitrostyrene in the presence of 1 equiv of triethylamine as co-catalyst. The reaction enantioselectivity depends on the chiral ligand structure.     

New chiral phosphine–phosphites: a convenient synthesis based on the demethylation of o-anisyl phosphines and application in highly enantioselective catalytic hydrogenations

An easy demethylation of o-anisyl phosphines provides a convenient access to a series of new chiral phosphine–phosphites. The screening of these derivatives as ligands in rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of dimethyl itaconate has shown a profound influence of ligand structure on the enantioselectivity of the process.     

Enantioselective addition of diethylzinc to aldehydes using immobilized chiral BINOL–Ti complex on ordered mesoporous silicas

A chiral (S)-BINOL ligand has been covalently grafted on ordered mesoporous silicas—MCM-41 and SBA-15 and the resulting inorganic–organic hybrid materials used as chiral auxiliaries in Ti-promoted enantioselective addition of diethyl zinc to aldehydes under heterogeneous conditions. These heterogeneous catalysts showed promising activity and enantioselectivity. The catalyst having a larger pore diameter with capping of free silanol moiety with trimethylsilyl (TMS) group was found to be more active with enantioselectivities up to 81% being achieved. The catalyst worked well up to three cycles with retention of enantioselectivity after washing with 10% HCl in methanol.     

A new chiral 2-sulfonylamino-2′-phosphino-1,1′-binaphthyl ligand for highly enantioselective copper-catalyzed conjugate addition of diethylzinc to benzylideneacetones

A new axially chiral phosphine-sulfonamide ligand was prepared via a chiral component (R)-2-amino-2′-diphenylphosphinyl-1,1′-binaphthyl, which was conveniently synthesized through a new route involving hydrolysis of (R)-2-cyano-2′-phosphinyl-1,1′-binaphthyl followed by Hofmann rearrangement of the amide group. The new ligand was found to be very efficient in copper-catalyzed enantioselective conjugate addition of diethylzinc to acyclic enones such as benzylideneacetones, providing very high enantioselectivity up to 99% ee.