Enantioselective biomimetic transamination of α-keto acids catalyzed by H4-naphthalene-derived axially chiral biaryl pyridoxamines

Asymmetric biomimetic transamination is a highly attractive method for synthesis of chemically and biologically important chiral amino acids and chiral amines. Development of chiral pyridoxamines/pyridoxals is the key for the reaction. New axially chiral biaryl pyridoxamines based on H₄-naphathene skeleton have been developed. The pyridoxamines display good enantioselectivity and high catalytic activity in asymmetric biomimetic transamination of α-keto acids, affording various optically active unnatural amino acids in 61–98% yields with up to 91% ee’s.     

Rhodium/chiral diene-catalyzed asymmetric 1,4-addition of arylboronic acids to arylmethylene cyanoacetates

Asymmetric 1,4-addition of arylboronic acids to (E)-methyl 2-cyano-3-arylpropenoates proceeded in the presence of a rhodium catalyst (3 mol %) coordinated with a chiral diene ligand, (R,R)-Ph-bod*, to give high yields of the corresponding methyl 3,3-diaryl-2-cyanopropanoates with high enantioselectivity (up to 99% ee). This catalytic asymmetric transformation was applied to the asymmetric synthesis of (R)-tolterodine.     

Asymmetric Synthesis of alpha-Amino Phosphonic Acids by Diastereoselective Addition of Trimethyl Phosphite onto Chiral Oxazolidines(1)

A simple and general asymmetric synthesis of alpha-amino phosphonic acids is described. The method involves the highly selective addition of trialkyl phosphite onto various chiral oxazolidines. Oxazaphosphorinanes thus obtained with an excellent diastereoselectivity furnish the corresponding (S)-alpha-substituted amino phosphonic acids in good overall yields and high ee (77-->97%) after simple deprotection.     

Catalytic Enantioselective Reduction of Prochiral Ketones with Chiral Ferrocenyl Amino Alcohols

The asymmetric reduction of prochiral ketones was catalyzed by a class of recoverable and highly stable chiral ferrocenyl amino alcohols derived from natural amino acids to yield optically active secondary alcohols in high chemical yields and moderate to good enantiomeric excesses.     

Chiral Ferrocenyl Amino Alcohols：Preparation and Application as Catalysts in the Enantioselective Reduction of Ketones Using NaBH4／I2

Five novel chiral ferrocenyl amino alcohols were prepared from natural amino acids and used as catalysts in the asymmetric reduction of prochiral ketones with NaBH4/I2 combination.The incorporation of the ferrocenyl moiety into the molecule of the chiral amino alcohols greatly improved their enantioselectivity in the catalysis.The optically active secondary alcohols were obt5ained in moderate to good enantiomeric excesses and high chemical yields.     

Desymmetrization of Geminal Difluoromethylenes using a Palladium/Copper/Lithium Ternary System for the Stereodivergent Synthesis of Fluorinated Amino Acids

Fluorinated amino acids and related peptides/proteins have been found widespread applications in pharmaceutical and agricultural compounds. However, strategies for introducing a C−F bond into amino acids in an enantioselective manner are still limited and no such asymmetric catalysis strategy has been reported. Herein, we have successfully developed a Pd/Cu/Li ternary system for stereodivergent synthesis of chiral fluorinated amino acids. This method involves a sequential desymmetrization of geminal difluoromethylenes and allylic substitution with amino acid Schiff bases via Pd/Li and Pd/Cu dual activation, respectively. A series of non-natural amino acids bearing a chiral allylic/benzylic fluorine motif are easily synthesized in high yields with excellent regio-, diastereo-, and enantioselectivities (up to >20 : 1 dr and >99 % ee). A density functional theory (DFT) study revealed the F−Cu interaction of the allylic substrate and the Cu catalyst significantly influence the stereoselectivity.     

Asymmetric synthesis of sterically and electronically demanding linear ω-trifluoromethyl containing amino acids via alkylation of chiral equivalents of nucleophilic glycine and alanine

An operationally convenient, scalable asymmetric synthesis of linear, ω-trifluoromethyl-containing amino acids, which were not previously produced in their enantiomerically pure form, has been developed via alkylation of chiral equivalents of nucleophilic glycine and alanine. The simplicity of the experimental procedures and high stereochemical outcome (yields up to 90% and diastereoselectivity up to 99%) of the presented method render these fluorinated amino acids readily available for systematic medicinal chemistry studies and de novo peptide design.     

Nickel‐Catalyzed Asymmetric Hydrogenation of 2‐Amidoacrylates

Earth‐abundant nickel, coordinated with a suitable chiral bisphosphine ligand, was found to be an efficient catalyst for the asymmetric hydrogenation of 2‐amidoacrylates, affording the chiral α‐amino acid esters in quantitative yields and excellent enantioselectivity (up to 96 % ee). The active catalyst component was studied by NMR and HRMS, which helped us to realize high catalytic efficiency on a gram scale with a low catalyst loading (S/C=2000). The hydrogenated products could be simply converted into chiral α‐amino acids, β‐amino alcohols, and their bioactive derivatives. Furthermore, the catalytic mechanism was investigated using deuterium‐labeling experiments and computational calculations.     

High Performance of a Palladium Phosphinooxazoline Catalyst in the Asymmetric Arylation of Cyclic N‐Sulfonyl Ketimines

A cationic palladium complex with a chiral phosphine‐oxazoline ligand (iPr‐phox) showed high catalytic activity and enantioselectivity in the asymmetric addition of arylboronic acids to six‐membered cyclic N‐sulfonyl ketimines to give high yields of the corresponding chiral cyclic sulfamidates with 96–99.9 % ee. The products have tetrasubstituted stereogenic centers with an amino group and a triaryl or alkyldiaryl group as substituents.     

Stereodivergent Synthesis of Allenes with α,β-Adjacent Central Chiralities Empowered by Synergistic Pd/Cu Catalysis

The stereodivergent synthesis of allene compounds bearing α,β-adjacent central chiralities has been realized via the Pd/Cu-catalyzed dynamic kinetic asymmetric alkylation of racemic allenylic esters. The matched reactivity of bimetallic catalytic system enables the challenging reaction of racemic aryl-substituted allenylic acetates with sterically crowded aldimine esters smoothly under mild reaction conditions. Various chiral non-natural amino acids bearing a terminal allenyl group are easily synthesized in high yields and with excellent diastereo- and enantioselectivities (up to >20 : 1 dr, >99 % ee). Importantly, all four stereoisomers of the product can be readily accessed by switching the configurations of the two chiral metal catalysts. Furthermore, the easy interconversion between the uncommon η³-butadienyl palladium intermediate featuring a weak C=C/Pd coordination bond and a stable Csp²−Pd bond is beneficial for the dynamic kinetic asymmetric transformation process (DyKAT).     

A new type of L-Tertiary leucine-derived ligand: Synthesis and application in Cu(II)-catalyzed asymmetric Henry reactions

A new series of Schiff bases derived from amino acids were developed as chiral ligands for Cu(II)-catalyzed asymmetric Henry reactions. The optimum ligand 7d exhibited outstanding catalytic efficiency in the Cu(II)-catalyzed asymmetric Henry additions of four nitroalkanes to different kinds of aldehydes to produce 76 desired adducts in high yields (up to 96%) with excellent enantioselectivities, up to 99% enantiomeric excess (ee).     

Asymmetric Coupling of Carbon-Centered Radicals Adjacent to Nitrogen: Copper-Catalyzed Cyanation and Etherification of Enamides

The first copper-catalyzed asymmetric cyanation and etherification reactions of enamides have been established, where a carbon-centered radical adjacent to a nitrogen atom (CRAN) is enantioselectively trapped by a chiral copper(II) species. Moreover, the asymmetric cyanation of vinyl esters was disclosed as well. These reactions feature very mild reaction conditions and high functional group tolerance, and give a series of chiral α-cyano amides, α-cyano esters and α-hemiaminals in good yields with excellent enantioselectivity. The chiral α-cyano amides can be easily converted into enantioenriched 1,2-diamines and amino acids.     

Highly Enantioselective Phenylacetylene Addition to Benzaldehyde Catalyzed by Chiral Tridentate Ligand

Development of new or improved methods for the asymmetric preparation of chiral propargylic alcohols has gained considerable significance during the past years because they are useful building blocks for the synthesis of many biologically active compounds and natural products.[1] A series of chiral tridentate ligands were conveniently synthesized from amino acids with good yields (Scheme 1).[2] A preliminary study of the enantioselective alkynylation of benzaldehyde catalyzed by this chiral tridentate ligand was carried out and up to 83% ee of chiral propargyl alcohols was obtained (Table 1 ). A further investigation of the tridentate ligand is currently underway.     

Enantioselective Alkynylation of Benzaldehyde Catalyzed by New Chiral Lewis Acid Ligand: Zinc-Amide Complex

The enantioselective alkynylzinc addition to aldehydes is very useful for the synthesis of chiral propargyl alcohols which are important versatile building blocks of many biologically active compounds and natural products1. A series of chiral oxazolidines were conveniently synthesized from amino acids in three steps with good yields. The use of chiral Lewis acid ligand: zinc-amide complex in situ generated from this oxazolidine with alkylzinc as chiral catalysts for the enantioselective alkyny…     

Catalytic Asymmetric Synthesis of Trifluoromethylated γ‐Amino Acids through the Umpolung Addition of Trifluoromethyl Imines to Carboxylic Acid Derivatives

Novel cinchona alkaloid derived chiral phase‐transfer catalysts enabled the highly chemo‐, regio‐, diastereo‐, and enantioselective umpolung addition of trifluoromethyl imines to α,β‐unsaturated N‐acyl pyrroles. With a catalyst loading ranging from 0.2 to 5.0 mol %, this new catalytic asymmetric transformation provides facile and high‐yielding access to highly enantiomerically enriched chiral trifluoromethylated γ‐amino acids and γ‐lactams.     

Diastereo‐ and Enantioselective anti‐Selective Hydrogenation of α‐Amino‐β‐keto Ester Hydrochlorides and Related Compounds Using Transition‐Metal–Chiral‐Bisphosphine Catalysts

This review describes our recent works on the diastereo‐ and enantioselective synthesis of anti‐β‐hydroxy‐α‐amino acid esters using transition‐metal–chiral‐bisphosphine catalysts. A variety of transition metals, namely ruthenium (Ru), rhodium (Rh),iridium (Ir), and nickel (Ni), in combination with chiral bisphosphines, worked well as catalysts for the direct anti‐selective asymmetric hydrogenation of α‐amino‐β‐keto ester hydrochlorides, yielding anti‐β‐hydroxy‐α‐amino acid esters via dynamic kinetic resolution (DKR) in excellent yields and diastereo‐ and enantioselectivities. The Ru‐catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of α‐amino‐β‐ketoesters via DKR is the first example of generating anti‐β‐hydroxy‐α‐amino acids. Complexes of iridium and axially chiral bisphosphines catalyze an efficient asymmetric hydrogenation of α‐amino‐β‐keto ester hydrochlorides via dynamic kinetic resolution. A homogeneous Ni–chiral‐bisphosphine complex also catalyzes an efficient asymmetric hydrogenation of α‐amino‐β‐keto ester hydrochlorides in an anti‐selective manner. As a related process, the asymmetric hydrogenation of the configurationally stable substituted α‐aminoketones using a Ni catalyst via DKR is also described.     

Acyclic chiral amines and amino acids as inexpensive and readily tunable catalysts for the direct asymmetric three-component Mannich reaction

The direct three-component asymmetric Mannich reaction catalyzed by acyclic chiral amines or amino acids is presented. Simple acyclic chiral amines and amino acids--such as alanine-tetrazole (9), alanine, valine, and serine-catalyzed the three-component asymmetric Mannich reactions between unmodified ketones, p-anisidine, and aldehydes with high chemo- and stereoselectivity, furnishing the corresponding Mannich bases with up to >99 % ee. This study demonstrates that the whole range of amino acids in nature, as well as nonproteogenic amino acid derivatives, can be considered in the design and tuning of novel, inexpensive organocatalysts for the direct asymmetric Mannich reaction.     

P,S Ligands for the Asymmetric Construction of Quaternary Stereocenters in Palladium‐Catalyzed Decarboxylative [4+2] Cycloadditions

A new hybrid P,S ligand was exploited by combining a chiral β‐amino sulfide and a simple diphenyl phosphite. The resultant ligand performs extremely well in a palladium‐catalyzed asymmetric decarboxylative [4+2] cycloaddition reaction, thus generating multiple contiguous stereocenters and a chiral quaternary center. By doing so, a straightforward route to highly functionalized tetrahydroquinolines was developed with yields of up to 99 %, as well as 98 % ee and greater than 95:5 d.r. Moreover, mechanistic insights into this transformation and the possible stereocontrol are discussed.     

Design and scalable synthesis of new chiral selectors. Part 1: Synthesis and characterization of a new constrained cyclopeptide from unnatural bulky amino acids

We describe the conception, synthesis, and characterization of a novel cyclopeptide designed for chiral recognition. The asymmetric units are built from an unnatural amino acid in the series of α-aryl-α-methyl glycine. Modifications of standard methods of peptide synthesis are described in order to improve yields and purities when applied to hindered amino acids. First set of experiments about host-guest ability of the obtained cyclopeptide is disclosed.     

Asymmetric cyclization via memory of chirality: a concise access to cyclic amino acids with a quaternary stereocenter

N-(omega-Bromoalkyl)-amino acid derivatives, readily prepared from natural alpha-amino acids, gave cyclic amino acids with a quaternary stereocenter by treatment with potassium hexamethyldisilazaide in DMF. The chirality of parent amino acids was almost completely preserved during an enolate-formation and cyclization process, giving aza-cyclic amino acids in up to 98% ee in retention of configuration. This method is applicable to the asymmetric synthesis of azetidine, pyrrolidine, piperidine, and azepane derivatives. The asymmetric cyclization seems to proceed via an axially chiral enolate intermediate and not through a concerted SEi process.