Design of chiral organocatalysts for practical asymmetric synthesis of amino acid derivatives

A series of structurally rigid, chiral quaternary ammonium salts and several chiral sec-amine catalysts derived from commercially available (R)- or (S)-binaphthol have been designed as new C(2)-symmetric chiral phase-transfer catalysts and chiral bifunctional amino-catalysts. These chiral organocatalysts have been successfully applied to the highly practical asymmetric synthesis of various amino acid derivatives.     

Direct enantiomeric TLC resolution of dl-penicillamine using (R)-mandelic acid and l-tartaric acid as chiral impregnating reagents and as chiral mobile phase additive

DL-Penicillamine has been resolved into its enantiomers by normal-phase TLC using L-tartaric acid as chiral impregnating reagent as well as chiral mobile phase additive, while (R)-mandelic acid has been found to be successful as a chiral impregnating reagent. The solvent system acetonitrile-methanol-water (5:1:1, v/v) was found to be successful when L-tartaric acid was used as impregnating agent while the solvent combination acetonitrile-methanol-(0.5% l-tartaric acid in water, pH 5)-glacial acetic acid (7:1:1.1:0.7, v/v) was successful as mobile phase as it contained L-tartaric acid as the chiral additive. (R)-mandelic acid was successful as chiral impregnating reagent with ethyl acetate-methanol-water (3:1:1, v/v), as the mobile phase. The effects of concentration of chiral selectors, temperature and pH were examined on enantiomeric resolution. The spots were detected with iodine vapors and the detection limits were found to be 0.12 microg for each enantiomer of penicillamine with L-tartaric acid, under both the conditions, and 0.11 microg with (R)-mandelic acid.     

Synthesis and characterization of some new C2 symmetric chiral bisamide ligands derived from chiral Feist's acid

The hemilabile chiral C2 symmetrical bidentate substituted amide ligands (1R,2R)-5(a-d) and (1S,2S)-6(a-d) were synthesized in quantitative yield from (1R,2R)-(+)-3-methylenecyclo-propane-1,2-dicarboxylic acid (1R,2R)-3 and (1S,2S)-(-)-3-methylene-cyclopropane-1,2-dicarboxylic acid (1S,2S)-3, in two steps, respectively. The chiral Feist's acids (1R,2R)-3 and (1S,2S)-3 were obtained in good isomeric purity by resolution of trans-(±)-3-methylene-cyclopropane-1,2-dicarboxylic acid from an 8:2 mixture of tert-butanol and water, using (R)-(+)-α-methylbenzyl amine as a chiral reagent. This process is reproducible on a large scale. All these new synthesized chiral ligands were characterized by 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, IR, and mass spectrometry, as well as elemental analysis and their specific rotations were measured. These new classes of C2 symmetric chiral bisamide ligands could be of special interest in asymmetric transformations.     

Chiral supramolecular thiophene fluorophore consisting of thiophenecarboxylic acid derivatives

Solid-state chiral supramolecular thiophene fluorophore has been successfully prepared by using chiral (R)-1-(2-naphthyl)ethylamine and 5-bromothiophene-2-carboxylic acid. This chiral supramolecular thiophene fluorophore is formed by assembling chiral 2₁-helical columnar network structures composed of (R)-1-(2-naphthyl)ethylamine and 5-bromothiophene-2-carboxylic acid. This supramolecular organic fluorophore exhibits circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) even in the solid state.     

Chiral acid selectivity displayed by PEDOT electropolymerised in the presence of chiral molecules

Chiral conducting polymers prepared by electropolymerising PEDOT in the presence of chiral anions such as hyaluronic acid and anionic collagen or in a chiral nematic phase (hydroxypropyl cellulose, HPC) show excellent chiral acid recognition. This paper demonstrates the enantioselective recognition and transfer of protonated mandelic acid and protons using chiral PEDOTs. Discrimination between (R)-(-)- and (S)-(+)-mandelic acid was observed using cyclic voltammetry and square-wave voltammetry.     

A catalytic asymmetric synthesis of chiral glycidic acid derivatives through chiral dioxirane-mediated catalytic asymmetric epoxidation of cinnamic acid derivatives

A novel and practical asymmetric synthesis of chiral glycidic acid derivatives involving methyl (2R,3S)-3-(4-methoxyphenyl)glycidate ((2R,3S)-2a), a key intermediate for diltiazem hydrochloride (1), was developed. Treatment of methyl (E)-4-methoxycinnamate ((E)-3a) with chiral dioxirane, generated in situ from a catalytic amount (5 mol %) of an 11-membered C(2)-symmetric binaphthyl ketone (R)-7a, provided (2R,3S)-2a in 92% yield and 80% ee. Other cinnamic acid esters and amides were epoxidized by the use of the same procedure to give the corresponding chiral glycidic acid derivatives with up to 95% yield and 92% ee. Higher enantioselectivities in the asymmetric epoxidation of (E)-cinnamates than that of (E)-stilbene derivatives were observed and were proposed to be attributed to a dipole-dipole repulsion between oxygen atoms of an ester group in the cinnamates and those of the lactone moieties in the binaphthyl dioxirane.     

A highly enantioselective chiral Schiff-base fluorescent sensor for mandelic acid

A chiral Schiff-base compound, 4-methyl-2,6-bis-[(2-hydroxy-1-phenylethylimino)methyl]phenol, is found to act as highly enantioselective fluorescent agent for α-hydroxycarboxylic acid, e.g., mandelic acid. It is observed that, within a certain concentration range, one enantiomer of the chiral acid can increase the fluorescence intensity of the Schiff-base compound 122-fold while the other enantiomer enhances the intensity only 42-fold. Such highly enantioselective responses towards the chiral acid make the unusual Schiff-base compound attractive as a fluorescent sensor for determining the enantiomeric composition of α-hydroxycarboxylic acids.     

Enantioseparation of amino acid derivatives on an immobilized network polymer derived from L-tartaric acid

Seven structurally related amino acid derivatives were successfully enantioseparated by HPLC with a commercially available column containing a chiral immobilized network polymer derived from L-tartaric acid. The experiments were carried out under normal-phase conditions. All the solutes could be baseline separated using n-hexane/2-propanol (95/5) as eluent at a flow rate of 1 ml/min at 25 degrees C, with reasonable retention time (<12 min). The effects of the polar alcohol modifier (type and content) in the mobile phase and the column temperature on the enantioseparation were studied. Apparent thermodynamic parameters were also calculated from the plots of ln alpha or ln k' versus 1/T. Some mechanistic aspects of chiral recognition were discussed with respect to the structures of the solutes. It was found that the enantioseparations are all enthalpy driven, and the N-acyl groups of the solutes have significant influence on the chiral recognition.     

Chiral separation of disease biomarkers with 2‐hydroxycarboxylic acid structure

Chiral 2‐hydroxycarboxylic acids are compounds that have been linked to particular diseases and are putative biomarkers with some diagnostic potential. The importance of identifying whether a particular enantiomer is related to certain diseases has been encouraged recently. However, in many cases it has not yet been elucidated whether there are stereochemical implications with respect to these biomarkers and whether their enantioselective analysis provides new insights and diagnostic potential. In this study 13 disease‐related chiral 2‐hydrocarboxylic acids were studied for their chiral separation by high‐performance liquid chromatography on three cinchona alkaloid‐derived chiral stationary phases. From a subgroup of eight 2‐hydroxymonocarboxylic acids, baseline resolution could be achieved and inversion of elution order by exchanging tert‐butylcarbamoyl quinidine chiral stationary phase (Chiralpak QD‐AX) for the corresponding quinine analogue (Chiralpak QN‐AX) is shown for seven of them. Furthermore, conditions for chiral separation of the 2‐hydroxydicarboxylic acids, citramalic acid, 2‐isopropylmalic acid, and 2‐hydroxyadipic acid are reported and compared to the previous reported conditions for 2‐hydroxyglutaric acid and malic acid.     

Stereoselective electrochemical carboxylation: 2-phenylsuccinates from chiral cinnamic acid derivatives

Chiral 2-phenyl succinic ester derivatives have been obtained under mild conditions, in short times and with satisfactory yields by electrochemical reduction of chiral cinnamic acid derivatives under a CO2 atmosphere. When 4R-(diphenylmethyl)-oxazolidin-2-one was used as a chiral auxiliary the two diastereoisomers could be easily separated by flash chromatography and the R-isomer was obtained as major product.     

Enantiomeric separation of chiral phenoxy acid herbicides by electrokinetic chromatography. Application to the determination of analyte-selector apparent binding constants for enantiomers

The enantiomeric resolution of chiral phenoxy acid herbicides was performed by electrokinetic chromatography using a cyclodextrin as chiral pseudophase (CD-EKC). A systematic evaluation of several neutral and charged cyclodextrins was made. Among the cyclodextrins tested, (2-hydroxy)propyl beta-cyclodextrin (HP-beta-CD) was found to be the most appropriate for the enantioseparation of phenoxy acids. The influence of some experimental conditions, such as nature and pH of the background electrolyte, chiral selector concentration, and temperature, on the enantiomeric separation of phenoxy acids was also studied. The use of a 50 mM electrolyte solution in ammonium formate at pH 5 and a temperature of 40 degrees C enabled the enantiomeric resolution of four of the six phenoxy acids investigated (2-phenoxypropionic acid, 2(3-chlorophenoxy)propionic acid, 2-(4-chlorophenoxy)propionic acid, and 2-(2,4-dichlorophenoxy)propionic acid) obtaining migration times ranging from 9 to 15 min. Mixtures of the two phenoxy acids not enantiomerically resolved (2-(4-chlorophenoxy)-2-methylpropionic acid and 2-(2,4,5-trichlorophenoxy)propionic acid) and up to three of the phenoxy acids enantiomerically resolved were separated in about 15 min. Finally, the apparent binding constants for each enantiomer-HP-beta-CD pair were calculated at two temperature values (20 and 40 degrees C).     

Comparison of monomeric and polymeric amino acid based surfactants for chiral separations

To better understand chiral recognition with polymeric amino acid based surfactants, the chromatographic performance of 18 monomeric and polymeric surfactants were compared for chiral analytes with various charge states and hydrophobicities. In this study, four amino acids (glycine, L-alanine, L-valine, and L-leucine) were chosen, and all possible combinations of the chiral single amino acid and dipeptide surfactants were synthesized. The results indicate that polymeric surfactants usually provide better chiral resolution for enantiomers of lorazepam, temazepam, 1,1'-bi-2-naphthol, and propranolol as compared to monomeric surfactants. In contrast, monomers perform better for chiral recognition of the 1,1'-bi-2-naphthyl-2,2'-diyl hydrogenphosphate enantiomers.     

A solid-state fluorescence sensing system consisting of chiral (1R,2S)-2-amino-1,2-diphenylethanol and fluorescent 2-anthracenecarboxylic acid

A solid-state fluorescence sensing system was created by using a chiral supramolecular organic fluorophore having a channel-like cavity composed of (1R,2S)-2-amino-1,2-diphenylethanol as a chiral molecule and 2-anthracenecarboxylic acid as a fluorescence molecule.     

Highly regio- and stereoselective asymmetric bromoazidation of chiral alpha,beta-unsaturated carboxylic acid derivatives: scope and limitations

Lewis acid catalyzed asymmetric bromoazidation of chiral alpha,beta-unsaturated carboxylic acid derivatives was performed using N-bromosuccinimide (NBS) and trimethylsilyl azide (TMSN3) as the bromine and azide sources. Among the Lewis acids, Yb(OTf)3 was found to be the best catalyst. Regio- and anti-selectivity of 100% and moderate to good diastereoselectivity (up to 89:11) with good yields were obtained when Oppolzer's bornane sultam chiral auxilairy was used. Diastereoselectivity of >95:05 was observed when (2S,5S)-2,5-diphenylpyrrolidine was used as the chiral auxiliary.     

Enantioselective synthesis of fatty acid amide hydrolase inhibitors with 1,3-disubstituted butan-2-one scaffold

Fatty acid amide hydrolase is a key enzyme in the inactivation of the analgesic and anti-inflammatory endocannabinoid anandamide. Previously, the chiral compound 1-(1H-benzotriazol-1-yl)-3-(4-phenylphenoxy)butan-2-one was identified as a potent inhibitor of fatty acid amide hydrolase and is therefore of interest as a potential agent against pain and inflammation. Two different approaches for the enantioselective synthesis of fatty acid amide hydrolase inhibitors with a 1,3-disubstituted butan-2-one scaffold were carried out. The first one uses the chiral epoxide 2-[1-(4-phenylphenoxy)ethyl]oxirane with an (R)- or (S)-configuration at the exocyclic stereocenter as central intermediates. These substances were obtained by separation of the non-stereoselectively synthesized epoxide into its racemic diastereomers by reversed phase chromatography followed by Jacobsen’s hydrolytic kinetic resolution of each enantiomer with the (S)-configured oxirane ring. Furthermore, a chiral pool based enantioselective synthesis was developed. In that case, the starting compound for both target enantiomers was methyl 3,4-O-isopropylidene-l-threonate. In comparison to the first approach, the chiral pool synthesis consisted of more steps, but generated the enantiomers with much better enantiomeric excess. Biological evaluation showed that the (R)-enantiomer inhibits isolated fatty acid amide hydrolase with a 200-fold higher activity than the (S)-enantiomer.     

Cholesterol-armed cyclens for helical metal complexes offering chiral self-aggregation and sensing of amino acid anions in aqueous solutions

Cholesterol-armed cyclens worked as octadentate receptors for Na+, Ca2+, and Y3+ complexes in which four chiral cholesterol-functionalized sidearms were bundled and asymmetrically twisted above cyclen-metal complex platforms. Since the resulting helical metal complexes included chiral, hydrophobic cholesterol residues and charged, hydrophilic metal sites as well as asymmetric coordination geometries, they exhibited unique amphiphilic properties and provided chiral self-aggregates in aqueous solutions. Light scattering, fluorescence, and TEM characterizations demonstrated that Na+ complex with cholesterol-armed cyclen gave a particularly stable self-aggregate in aqueous solution and offered supramolecular environments effective for sensing and detection of amino acid anions. Various dansylamino acid derivatives (dansyl = 5-(dimethylamino)-1-naphthalenesulfonyl) were nicely accommodated in the helicate aggregates to give highly enhanced fluorescence signals, which could be detected by the naked eye at 10(-7) mol/L level. Their inclusion behaviors were analyzed by a Langmuir-type equation, indicating that enantiomer-selective inclusion occurred. MM/MD calculations and circular dichroism (CD) studies further suggested that cholesterol-armed cyclen helicates have chiral and hydrophobic cavities upon self-aggregation, in which the dansylamino acid anions were specifically accommodated. Since these helicates exhibited nonselective binding abilities in solvent extraction experiments of dansylamino acid anions, uncommon chiral recognition and sensing functions were generated by supramolecular alignments of the chiral metal helicates in the aqueous solutions.     

Troger's base molecular scaffolds in dicarboxylic acid recognition

Artificial receptors (1-5) have been designed and synthesized from simple precursors. The chain length selectivity studies of dicarboxylic acids within the cavities of new fluorescent Troger's base molecular frameworks (1-3) have been carried out with a critical examination of their role of rigidity as well as flexibility in selective binding in comparison to receptor 5. The chiral resolution of the racemic Troger's base receptors (1 and 2) by chiral recognition with (+)- camphoric acid using hydrogen-bonding interactions has been studied.     

Direct chiral resolution of tartaric acid in food products by ligand exchange capillary electrophoresis using copper(II)-D-quinic acid as a chiral selector.

Chiral resolution of native DL-tartaric acid was performed by ligand-exchange capillary electrophoresis using copper(II)-D-quinic acid as a chiral selector. Factors affecting chiral resolution, migration time, and peak area of tartaric acid were studied. The running conditions for optimum separation of tartaric acid were found to be 1 mM copper(II) sulfate-10 mM D-quinic acid (pH 5.0) with an effective voltage of -15 kV at 30 degrees C, using direct detection at 250 nm, and resolution of racemic tartaric acid was approximately 1.3. With this system, chiral resolution of DL-tartaric acid in food products was conducted successfully.     

Evaluation of chiral recognition characteristics of metal and proton complexes of di-o-benzoyl-tartaric acid dibutyl ester and L-tryptophan in the gas phase

Chiral recognition of di-o-benzoyl-tartaric acid dibutyl ester (T) was achieved in the gas phase by electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry. In this method two divalent transition metal cations, zinc(II) and copper(II), were used as binding metal ions, and L-tryptophan (A) was used as a chiral reference. Multimeric complexes were readily formed by electrospray ionization of a methanol:water (50:50) solution containing metal ion, L-tryptophan and T. These multimeric complexes included singly charged protonated dimeric [TAH](+), doubly charged copper(II) bound tetrameric [TACu-H](2)(2+) and doubly charged zinc(II) bound tetrameric [TAZn-H](2)(2+), together with other complexes. The mass-selected complex, i.e., [TAH](+), [TACu-H](2)(2+) and [TAZn-H](2)(2+), was used to acquire the second stage mass spectra. The chiral recognition capability of these three complexes was evaluated using the abundance ratios of daughter ion to parent ion. A high degree of chiral recognition ability was observed in [TACu-H](2)(2+) and [TAZn-H](2)(2+). It was found that the type of binding ion played an important role in the chiral recognition. Different binding ions exhibited distinctive dissociation pathways and unique chiral recognition characteristics. The present method is based not only on whole-molecule loss but also on fractional-molecule loss. In addition, the reproducibility of the chiral recognition method was confirmed by several determinations of the abundance ratios of daughter ion to parent ion with a fixed activation energy and with five different activation energies. It was also shown that this chiral recognition method can tolerate acid interference.     

Synthesis of anti-Alzheimer (R)-arundic acid

The asymmetric synthesis of the anti-Alzheimer agent (R)-arundic acid has been performed via a diastereoselective photodeconjugation reaction as the key-step. The synthetic approach involves a readily available chiral auxiliary, diacetone-d-glucose, and allows access to either enantiomer as illustrated by the synthesis of (S)-arundic acid. Both enantiomers were obtained in 88% ee using the same chiral auxiliary.