A new Yb-catalyzed pinacol and imine-coupling reaction

Ytterbium triflate, Yb(OTf)₃, catalyzes the intermolecular reductive homocouplings of imines, aldehydes, and ketones at loadings of 5 mol % in the presence of Mg and Me₃SiCl to give isolated yields of up to 95%. Diastereoselectivity of up to 4/96 (dl/meso) is achieved for aromatic aldehydes, up to 100% dl for aliphatic aldehydes, and 100% dl for an intramolecular imine coupling.     

Direct reductive amination of aldehydes using lithium-arene(cat.) as reducing system. A simple one-pot procedure for the synthesis of secondary amines

A simple one-pot procedure for the direct reductive amination of aldehydes using lithium powder and a catalytic amount of 4,4′-di-tert-butylbiphenyl (DTBB) or a polymer supported naphthalene as reducing system is described. The direct reductive amination of a variety of aldehydes with primary amines was achieved simply by adding a mixture of the corresponding carbonyl compound and the amine, over a solution of the lithium arenide in THF at room temperature. For most of the substrates tested the main reaction products were the secondary amines along with variable amounts of the corresponding alcohol and/or imine products. Theoretical DFT calculations have been applied in order to explain the differences in reactivity observed for aromatic substrates.     

Ruthenium(II)-catalyzed para-selective CH difluoroalkylation of aromatic aldehydes and ketones using transient directing groups

A Ru(II)-catalyzed para-difluoroalkylation of aromatic aldehydes and ketones with a transient directing group has been developed. It utilizes less expensive ruthenium catalysts and allows facile access to challenging difluoroalkylated aldehydes. The mechanism studies suggest that the distinct coordination mode of ruthenium complex with imine moieties is responsible for para-selectivity.     

Electric Field Enhanced Ammoxidation of Aldehydes Using Supported Fe Clusters Under Ambient Oxygen Pressure

Heterogeneous catalytic ammoxidation provides an eco-friendly route for the cyanide-free synthesis of nitrile compounds, which are important precursors for synthetic chemistry and pharmaceutical applications. However, in general such a process requires high pressures of molecular oxygen at elevated temperatures to accelerate the oxygen reduction and imine dehydrogenation steps, which is highly risky in practical applications. Here, we report an electric field enhanced ammoxidation system using a supported Fe clusters catalyst (Fe/NC), which enables efficient synthesis of nitriles from the corresponding aldehydes under ambient air pressure at room temperature (RT). A synergistic effect between the external electric field and the Fe/NC catalyst promotes the ammonia activation and the dehydrogenation of the generated imine intermediates and avoids the unwanted backwards reaction to aldehydes. This electric field enhanced ammoxidation system presents high efficiency and selectivity for the conversion of a series of aldehydes under mild conditions with high durability, rendering it an attractive process for the green synthesis of nitriles with fragile functional groups.     

Proline derivatives incorporating hydrophobic long-chain derived from natural and synthetic fatty acids

The α-hydrophobic long chain-α-amino esters are prepared by α-hydroxylation of a series of fatty acid esters [derived from oleic acid (OA), linoleic acid (LA), arachidonic acid (ARA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)] followed by Mitsunobu reaction and hydrazinolysis of the phthalimide. These amino esters are mixed with aldehydes and electrophilic alkenes to give very good chemical yields and diastereoselectivities of prolinate derivatives incorporating a hydrophobic long chain at the α-position. This multicomponent 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition (1,3-DC) takes place at room temperature. The synthesis of the homologue hydrophobic chain of OA is performed by its oxidation to aldehyde/racemic N-tert-butylsulfinyl imine/Neff reaction. Final 1,3-DC with benzaldehyde and N-methylmaleimide affords homologue prolinate derivative in good yield.     

New N-substituted sulfinamides of neomenthane series

A reaction of neomenthanethiol with ammonia and N-chlorosuccinimide with subsequent addition of aromatic aldehydes leads to chiral N-arylideneneomenthylsulfenimines, whose oxidation at the sulfur atom gives N-arylideneneomenthylsulfinimines. The reactions of N-arylideneneomenthylsulfinimines with lithium aluminum hydride or Grignard reagents proceed at the imine fragment and lead to the corresponding N-benzylneomenthylsulfinamides.     

Recyclable fluorous organocatalysts promoted three-component reactions of pyruvate,aldehyde and amine at room temperature

A new fluorous imine carbothioate has been prepared as an organocatalyst for the synthesis of pyrrol-2-ones via the cyclo-condensation reaction of aldehydes, amines, and pyruvate at room temperature. The fluorous catalyst can be easily recovered from the reaction mixture by simple fluorous solid-phase extraction (F-SPE) and used for next run reaction without further purification.     

S-Benzyl isothiouronium chloride as a recoverable organocatalyst for the direct reductive amination of aldehydes

The direct reductive amination of aldehydes using S-benzyl isothiouronium chloride as a recoverable organocatalyst for the activation of the imine intermediate through hydrogen bonding is described. A mild and operationally simple fragment coupling procedure was accomplished with a wide range of aldehydes as well as amines in good to excellent yields. In addition, the S-benzyl isothiouronium chloride catalyst was easily recovered by simple filtration and reused without any drop in its efficiency.     

Site-selective formation of N-arylmethylimidazoles and C-arylimines in the reaction of 4,5-diamino-2,1,3-benzothiadiazole with aromatic aldehydes

Regioselective formation of N-arylmethylimidazoles and C-arylimines was found in the reaction of 4,5-diamino-2,1,3-benzothiadiazole with selected aromatic aldehydes. The regiochemistry of the reaction products was confirmed by single crystal X-ray analysis. Gibbs free energy calculation using DFT method at the B3LYP/6-31G(d) level supports the regio-selectivity observed. The 4-imine obtained in the reaction of 4,5-diamino-2,1,3-benzothiadiazole with pyrene-1-carboxaldehyde showed an unusually low magnetic field shift of the imine proton that was reproduced by molecular calculations.     

Dynamic covalent polypeptides showing tunable secondary structures and thermoresponsiveness

Lysine‐based polypeptides can be afforded with steerable secondary structures and tunable thermoresponsiveness through dynamic covalent OEGylation. These polypeptides were formed through dynamic imine linkage via reactions of amino moieties from poly(l ‐lysine)s with aldehydes from oligoethylene glycol (OEG)‐based dendrons. In addition to solution concentrations and pH values, macromolecular effect was found to play an important role on the imine formation. OEGylated polypeptides showed characteristic thermoresponsive properties, and their phase transition temperatures were governed predominately by terminal groups and the coverage of OEG dendrons. Notably, thermally induced aggregation would enhance the imine formation even at elevated temperature. In contrast to the covalent polypeptide representatives, the dynamic covalent polypeptides conveyed different thermoresponsiveness due to imine linkages, and their phase transition temperatures could be tuned simply by varying ratios of OEG dendrons with different hydrophilicity. Furthermore, helical conformation of these polypeptides was enhanced with attachment of OEG dendrons, and could be reversibly switched through thermally induced aggregation. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015 , 53, 33–41     

Synthesis of fluorinated glutamic acid derivatives via vinylalumination

A variety of structural types of fluorinated allylic acetates, prepared by vinylalumination of fluorinated aldehydes, were reacted with the benzophenone imine of glycine tert-butyl ester to provide 4-(fluorobenzylidenyl)- and 4-(fluoroalkylidenyl) glutamic acid derivatives in 61-96% yield. The 4-(4-fluorobenzylidenyl) glutamic acid derivative was hydrolyzed to give the 4-(4-fluorobenzylidenyl)pyroglutamate and then hydrogenated to the 4-(4-fluorobenzyl)pyroglutamate. The catalytic enantioselective conjugate addition-elimination of the benzophenone imine of glycine tert-butyl ester with the fluorinated allylic acetates prepared from fluoral, pentafluorobenzaldehyde, and 2,6-difluorobenzaldehyde provided the corresponding 4-(fluoroalkylidenyl)- and 4-(fluorobenzylidenyl) glutamic acid derivatives in 42, 45 and 80% ee, respectively.     

InBr3-catalyzed three-component, one-pot synthesis of imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines

Indium(III) bromide has been used for the first time for the synthesis of imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines in a one-pot operation from 2-aminopyridine, aldehydes, and alkynes. InBr₃ was found to be more effective for the activation of both alkyne and imine derived from aryl aldehyde and 2-aminopyridine.     

Iron(III) catalyzed direct C–H functionalization at the C-3 position of chromone for the synthesis of fused chromeno-quinoline scaffolds

This communication describes an iron-catalyzed route for the synthesis of 6-substituted chromeno[3,2-c]quinolin-7-one. The method developed does not require any pre-functionalization to execute the pivotal coupling reaction at the C-3 position of flavones. The final step involves the consecutive application of imine formation, C_sp²-C_sp² coupling and oxidation reaction, with aromatic aldehydes and 2-(2-aminophenyl)-4H-chromen-4-one as the reactants. Presence of electron donating/withdrawing groups was well tolerated in the aldehydes and the method developed could also be extended to other substituted 2-(2-aminophenyl)-4H-chromen-4-one’s. This is the first report of synthesis of 6-substituted chromeno[3,2-c]quinolin-7-one’s via direct functionalization of the C-3 site of flavones.     

Mukaiyama addition of (trimethylsilyl)acetonitrile to dimethyl acetals mediated by trimethylsilyl trifluoromethanesulfonate

(Trimethylsilyl)acetonitrile reacts smoothly with dimethyl acetals in the presence of stoichiometric trimethylsilyl trifluoromethanesulfonate (TMSOTf) to yield β-methoxynitriles. The ideal substrates for this reaction are acetals derived from aromatic aldehydes. Elimination to the corresponding α,β-unsaturated nitriles is observed as the major product in the case of electron-rich acetals. A mechanistic hypothesis that includes isomerization of the silylnitrile to a nucleophilic N-silyl ketene imine is presented.     

Byproduct‐Catalyzed Four‐Component Reactions of Aldehydes with Hexamethyldisilazane,Chloroformates, and Nucleophiles in Acetonitrile Leading to Protected Primary Amines, β‐Amino Esters,and β‐Amino Ketones

Multicomponent reactions are a very powerful tool for the construction of complex organic molecules by using readily available starting materials. While most of the multicomponent reactions discovered so far consist of three components, the reactions with four or more components remain sparse. We have successfully developed several four‐component reactions using a catalytic amount of water as a hydrolyzing agent to decompose byproduct chlorotrimethylsilane (TMSCl) to yield secondary byproduct HCl that serves as a catalyst. In the presence of 40 mol % of water, the four‐component reaction of aldehydes with hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS), chloroformates, and silylated nucleophiles proceeds smoothly at room temperature to give a range of protected primary amines in moderate to excellent yields. Importantly, a wide variety of protic carbon nucleophiles, such as β‐keto esters, β‐diketones, and ketones, have further been explored as suitable substrates for the synthesis of protected β‐amino esters and β‐amino ketones that are useful building blocks for various pharmaceuticals and natural products. These four‐component reactions proceed through a pathway of tandem nitrogen protection/imine formation/imine addition, and the decomposition of byproduct TMSCl, generated in the first step of nitrogen protection, with water results in the formation of secondary byproduct HCl, a strong Brønsted acid that catalyzes the following imine formation/imine addition. Taking advantage of the fact that alcohols or phenols are also able to decompose byproduct TMSCl to yield secondary byproduct HCl, no catalyst is needed at all for the four‐component reactions with aldehydes bearing hydroxy groups.     

Stereoselective allylation and reduction of N-tert-butanesulfinyl-α-keto aldimines

A simple methodology for the synthesis of N-tert-butanesulfinyl-α-keto aldimines from both α-keto aldehydes and carboxylic esters has been developed. The addition of an in situ formed allyl indium reagent to these chiral imines was also studied. The addition took place in a sequential manner, first to the imine group with excellent diastereoselectivity and then to the carbonyl group with lower diastereoselectivity. Ruthenium-catalyzed ring closing metathesis of the resulting 5-aminoocta-1,7-dien-4-ol derivatives provided access to 6-aminocyclohex-3-enols. Reduction of the α-keto aldimines led to N-tert-butanesulfinyl-1,2-aminoalcohols as a 1:1 diastereomeric mixture.     

One-pot reactions of bicyclic zinc enolate generated from Ni-catalyzed reductive cyclization to furnish octahydro-4,7-ethanobenzofuran-9-one derivatives

The one-pot reactions of catalytically generated bicyclic zinc enolate with various electrophiles are reported. The zinc enolate as a key intermediate is efficiently delivered from Ni-catalyzed reductive cyclization of alkynyl cyclohexadienone. Employing aldehydes, imine, nitroalkene, and α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds as electrophiles, this new class of one-pot reactions gave multi-functionalized cis-hydrobenzofurans and octahydro-4,7-ethanobenzofuran-9-one derivatives in moderate to good yields.     

Stereoselective alkylation of alpha,beta-unsaturated imines via C-H bond activation

The stereoselective alkylation of alpha,beta-unsaturated imines via C-H activation followed by imine hydrolysis produces tri- and tetrasubstituted alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes. In the presence of a rhodium catalyst, alpha,beta-unsaturated N-benzyl imines derived from methacrolein, crotonaldehyde, and tiglic aldehyde undergo directed C-H activation at the beta-position and react with terminal alkenes and alkynes to form the tri- and tetrasubstituted alpha,beta-unsaturated imines with very high stereoselectivity. Hydrolysis to provide alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes can be performed under carefully controlled conditions that maintain the stereochemistry of the beta-alkylated imine products. Alternatively, for beta-alkylation products of the N-benzyl imine of methacrolein, hydrolysis can be performed under conditions that provide complete isomerization to the E isomer.     

Electronic and steric control in regioselective addition reactions of organolithium reagents with enaldimines

A reaction mode of imines derived from naphthalene-1-carbaldehyde and acyclic alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes with organolitium reagents was dependent on the characteristic nature of a substituent on the imine nitrogen atom. An imine having an electron-withdrawing aryl group on the nitrogen atom behaves as a 1,2-directing imine toward organolithium reagents. In contrast, an imine bearing an alkyl or a bulky aryl group favors 1,4-addition of organolithium reagents. Electronic and steric tuning of a substituent on the imine nitrogen atom for a reaction mode was rationalized on the basis of molecular orbital calculations.     

Metal-based Heterogeneous Catalysts for One-Pot Synthesis of Secondary Anilines from Nitroarenes and Aldehydes

Recently, N-substituted anilines have been the object of increasing research interest in the field of organic chemistry due to their role as key intermediates for the synthesis of important compounds such as polymers, dyes, drugs, agrochemicals and pharmaceutical products. Among the various methods reported in literature for the formation of C–N bonds to access secondary anilines, the one-pot reductive amination of aldehydes with nitroarenes is the most interesting procedure, because it allows to obtain diverse N-substituted aryl amines by simple reduction of nitro compounds followed by condensation with aldehydes and subsequent reduction of the imine intermediates. These kinds of tandem reactions are generally catalyzed by transition metal-based catalysts, mainly potentially reusable metal nanoparticles. The rapid growth in the last years in the field of metal-based heterogeneous catalysts for the one-pot reductive amination of aldehydes with nitroarenes demands for a review on the state of the art with a special emphasis on the different kinds of metals used as catalysts and their recyclability features.