Highly enantioselective organocatalysis of the Michael addition of benzyloxyacetaldehyde to nitroolefins

A novel category of di(N,N-dimethylbenzylamine)prolinol silyl ether catalyst, which when used in conjunction with an acidic co-catalyst, generates an ammonium salt supported organocatalyst. This catalytic system is shown to be very effective for the Michael reaction of benzyloxyacetaldehyde and various nitroolefins in isopropanol. Excellent enantioselectivities (up to 99%) and diastereoselectivities (syn/anti of 75:25) and short reaction times were obtained. The presence of the bulky OTMS group combined with the presence of two large N,N-dimethylbenzyl ammonium ion groups accounts for the effectiveness of this catalytic system.     

Guanidine organocatalysis for enantioselective carbon-heteroatom bond-forming reactions

Guanidine-containing molecules have been employed as organocatalysts, and chiral guanidines have been widely explored as catalysts for mediating asymmetric reactions by constructing an asymmetric reaction environment. Currently, many guanidine-catalyzed asymmetric reactions are available, and some excellent reviews have appeared. In this Digest, we focused on recent progress in the guanidine-catalyzed asymmetric construction of CN, CO, CP, and CS bonds, especially developments since 2010.     

S-Substituted-2-mercaptobenzthiazolium-based chiral ionic liquids: efficient organocatalysts for enantioselective sodium borohydride reductions of prochiral ketones

Novel chiral ionic liquids having chirality in their cationic part have been synthesized for evaluation of their catalytic potential as organocatalysts in sodium borohydride reduction of prochiral ketones to yield optically active secondary alcohols. The chiral ionic liquids have been synthesized from the reaction of (?)-menthol or (?)-borneol, chloroacetic acid and S-methyl/benzyl-2-mercaptobenzthiazole. The synthesized chiral ionic liquids have been characterized by ¹H, ¹³C NMR and Mass spectrometry. Moderate to excellent enantiomeric excess (ee > 99%) has been obtained in asymmetric sodium borohydride reduction of prochiral ketones using these salts as chiral catalysts.     

Advances on asymmetric organocatalytic 1,4-conjugate addition reactions in aqueous and semi-aqueous media

Asymmetric Michael addition reactions or 1,4-conjugate addition reactions are considered to be the fundamental C–C bond-forming reaction for the construction of chiral β-nitro, β-carbonyl and several other important structural motifs in organic synthesis. After the development of many chiral metal complexes as catalysts, a tremendous growth in the design and applications of variety of new chiral organocatalysts for asymmetric 1,4-conjugate addition reactions has been witnessed over the last two decades. Initially, asymmetric organocatalysis has been performed in organic solvents, but gradually performing the same catalysis in aqueous and semi-aqueous media became a necessity due to environmental aspects as well as to achieve better reactivity and selectivity. The structural and functional diversity of the chiral organocatalysts derived from natural and synthetic sources utilized differently the water either as the sole solvent, co-solvent or additive for optimising their best performances. In the present review, we discuss a detailed and comprehensive report on the advancement in the field of asymmetric organocatalytic 1,4-conjugate addition reactions in aqueous and semi-aqueous media.     

Chiral copper-catalyzed enantioselective Michael difluoromethylation of arylidene meldrum's acids with (difluoromethyl)zinc reagents

The catalytic enantioselective difluoromethylation of arylidene Meldrum's acids with (difluoromethyl)zinc reagent, easily prepared through zinc/iodide exchange reaction of difluoroiodomethane and diethylzinc with co-solvent such as pyridines, by a chiral phosphoramidite-Cu catalyst is shown to provide highly enantioselective sp [3]-difluoromethyl Michael addition product in good yields and high levels of enantioselectivity.     

Synthesis of enantiomerically pure 2-(N-aryl,N-alkyl-aminomethyl)aziridines: a new class of ligands for highly enantioselective asymmetric synthesis

A simple and effective synthesis of enantiomerically pure 2-(N-aryl-, N-alkyl-aminomethyl)aziridines from (2S)-N-tritylaziridine-2-carboxylic acid methyl ester has been developed. Treating of this key ester with several primary and secondary amines in the presence of AlMe₃ provided the corresponding chiral N-trityl-2-carboxamides, and their reduction performed with different reagents resulted in the formation of the expected 2-(aminomethyl)aziridines. The choice of reaction conditions allows to either keep or leave the trityl substituent in the product. Such 2-(aminoalkyl)aziridines have shown very high catalytic efficiency in the asymmetric arylation of aldehydes and in other testing asymmetric reactions. On the other hand, homochiral N-trityl-2-carboxamides are interesting building blocks for the synthesis of various biologically active compounds.     

Catalytic asymmetric Nazarov reactions promoted by chiral Lewis acid complexes

Divinyl ketones bearing alpha-ester or alpha-amide groups undergo Nazarov cyclizations to give cylopentenones using copper-bisoxazoline Lewis acid complexes with moderate to good ees. [reaction: see text]     

Pd(II) complexes of monodentate deoxycholic acid derived binaphthyl diamido phosphites as chiral catalysts in the asymmetric Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling

Chiral binaphthyl diamidophosphites derived from deoxycholic acid were synthesized and used as ligands for the preparation of mononuclear Pd(II) complexes, which were employed as catalysts in the asymmetric Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling of arylboronic acids with aryl bromides. Among the different reaction parameters, the substrate concentration emerged as being crucial for the outcome of the reaction: the reaction was faster in a concentrated reaction mixture, and could be performed at 0 °C, where the reaction promoted by the Pd-complexes was more enantioselective affording cross-coupling products with ee up to 70%.     

Highly enantioselective azadiene Diels-Alder reactions catalyzed by chiral N-heterocyclic carbenes

Highly enantioselective, N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-catalyzed aza-Diels-Alder reactions are described. A novel chiral triazolium salt based on the cis-1,2-aminoindanol platform serves as an efficient precatalyst for the NHC-catalyzed redox generation of enolate dienophiles that undergo LUMOdiene-controlled Diels-Alder reactions with N-sulfonyl-alpha,beta-unsaturated imines in good yields and with exceptional diastereo- and enantioselectivities (>99% ee). In contrast to uncatalyzed variants, this organocatalytic process proceeds at room temperature without stoichiometric reagents, producing synthetically valuable, enantiomerically pure cis-3,4-disubstituted dihydropyridinone products.     

Asymmetric epoxidation of enones using cumyl hydroperoxide and in situ generated zinc complexes of chiral pyrrolidinyl alcohols

The homogeneous asymmetric epoxidation of a range of enones was carried out using cumyl hydroperoxide, diethylzinc, and chiral pyrrolidinyl alcohol-containing ligands to afford the corresponding epoxy ketones with enantioselectivities of ≤97% ee. Examination of the enantioselectivities obtained in the asymmetric epoxidation of enones using a range of chiral ligands indicated that synergy between the sterically bulky bicyclo[2.2.2]octane skeleton and the substituents attached to the carbinol moiety played an important role in determining the reaction enantioselectivity. The position and nature of the substituent on the aromatic ring of the enone also had a pronounced effect on the observed enantioselectivity.     

Ferrocenophane-based bifunctional organocatalyst for highly enantioselective Michael reactions

Highly enantioselective Michael reactions between acetylacetone and trans-β-nitroolefins are achieved by a novel ferrocenophane-based tertiary amine-thiourea organocatalyst to provide the corresponding products in good to excellent yields (up to 95%) and enantioselectivities (up to 99% ee).     

Enantioselective enzymatic resolution of racemic alcohols by lipases in green organic solvents

The effects of two eco-friendly solvents, 2-methyltetrahydrofuran (MeTHF) and cyclopentyl methyl ether (CPME), on the enzyme activity and enantioselectivity of Novozym 435, Candida rugosa lipase (CRL), Porcine pancreas lipase (PPL), Lipase AK, Lipase PS, and Lipozyme, a series of commercial lipases, in the enantioselective transesterfications of racemic menthol, racemic sulcatol and racemic α-cyclogeraniol were studied. Vinyl acetate was chosen as the acyl donor and the reactions were carried out at water activity 0.06. The activity of lipases in CPME was similar to that observed in other largely employed organic solvents [toluene and tert-butyl methyl ether (MTBE)], and was slightly lower in MeTHF. However, for most of the lipases tested, the enantioselectivity was higher in the eco-friendly solvents. Lipase AK exhibited a high enantioselectivity (E = 232) for the resolution of racemic menthol but the reaction rate was low. Lipase formulation (the enzyme was frozen and lyophilized in potassium phosphate buffer without and with 5% (w/v) of sucrose, d-mannitol, or methoxy poly(ethylene glycol)) was tested with this lipase in order to improve its activity, which increased up to 4.5 times, compared to the untreated enzyme. CALB was found to be a useful biocatalyst for the resolution of racemic sulcatol, where high activity and enantioselectivity were obtained (E ≥ 1000). For the resolution of the racemic primary alcohol α-cyclogeraniol, most of the lipases tested were active but not enantioselective, except lipase PS which displayed a moderate enantioselectivity (E = 19). The effect of the presence of a low percentage of two ionic liquids (ILs) 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide ([BMIM][TFSI]) (5% (v/v)) and 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazoliumtetrafluoroborate ([BMIM][BF4]) (1% (v/v)) in the medium was also investigated. Only in the case of CRL the ILs slightly increased the enantioselectivity from E = 91 to E = 103 and E = 120 for [BMIM][TFSI] and [BMIM][BF4], respectively. However, in all cases ILs caused a decrease of enzyme activity.     

Anion-binding catalyst designs for enantioselective synthesis

Select hydrogen bond donors can catalyze reactions of ion pairs through the recognition of anions. This mode of action can be exploited in enantioselective catalysis if a suitable chiral hydrogen bond donor is applied. Beyond just anionic recognition, an enantioselective anion-binding catalyst often must host numerous non-covalent interactions, including hydrogen bonding, general base, π-π, and π-cation, to achieve high levels of enantiocontrol. Anion-binding catalysts can be strategically designed to support those non-covalent interactions required to render a process highly stereoselective. Tactics applied in anion-binding catalyst development include enhancing arene substituents for improved π-stacking, linking two anion-binding units together on a single scaffold, expanding types of functional groups for anion recognition, and building frameworks with bifunctional modes of action. The intent of this digest is to highlight observations that suggest as anion-binding catalyst designs advance, their associated synthetic methodologies for complex molecule construction become increasingly impressive.     

Rhodium/zinc co-catalyzed asymmetric ring opening reactions of oxabenzonorbornadienes with carboxylic acids

The asymmetric ring opening reactions of oxabenzonorbornadienes with carboxylic acids are described. By using the complex of [Rh(COD)Cl]₂ and (S,S)-BDPP, with ZnI₂ as the co-catalyst, a range of aromatic acids and alkyl acids were utilized as nucleophiles to afford the corresponding chiral hydronaphthalene products with high enantioselectivities (84–94% ee). Thus, the present methodology has provides an effective synthetic method for the preparation of enantioenriched hydronaphthalenes.     

Studies on asymmetric synthesis of bicyclomycin precursors. A chemoenzymatic route to chiral 2,5-diketopiperazines and 2-oxa-bicyclo[4.2.2]decane-8,10-diones

A novel asymmetric route to bicyclomycin analogues, 2-oxa-bicyclo[4.2.2]decane-8,10-diones, is described. The key chiral synthons 3-(ω-hydroxyalkyl)-2,5-diketopiperazines 3a-c were obtained via enzymatic kinetic resolution of their respective acetates 2a-c using hydrolases (up to >98% ee, E > 200). The chiral 2,5-diketopiperazines were then transformed into their bicyclic derivatives in a stereospecific manner. Circular dichroism and NMR studies were performed to determine the absolute and relative configuration of the obtained products. The biocatalytic approach gave high stereoselectivities in comparison to the chiral pool synthesis from glutamic acid (58% ee) and thus demonstrated the ability of hydrolases to discriminate a remote stereocenter.     

Highly enantioselective Michael-cyclization cascade promoted by synergistic asymmetric aminocatalysis and Lewis acid catalysis

The novel dual cooperative asymmetric aminocatalysis and Lewis acid catalysis has been successfully developed for promoting cascade Michael-cyclization reaction with high enantio-, regio- and chemo-selectivity. The simple and practical process affords a one-pot approach to synthetically useful cyclopentenes.     

Current applications of organocatalysts in asymmetric aldol reactions: An update

The aldol reaction is one of the most important carbon–carbon bond formations in synthetic organic chemistry. An enantioselective aldol reaction should provide an enantioenriched product. The organocatalytic asymmetric aldol reaction via an in situ generated enamine intermediate is one of the most powerful synthetic tools to achieve enantiomerically pure products. This approach is often used to obtain chiral β-hydroxycarbonyl compounds with excellent enantioselectivity. In this report, we update our previous review regarding the applications of organocatalysts in asymmetric aldol reactions leading to chiral β-hydroxycarbonyl compounds as versatile synthetic motifs frequently found in pharmaceutically desired intermediates and biologically active naturally occurring compounds.     

Synthesis of chiral hydantoin derivatives by homogeneous Pd-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation

5-Aryl substituted chiral hydantoin derivatives were synthesized via asymmetric hydrogenation of prochiral exocyclic alkenes using a Pd/BINAP catalyst. Moderate to good enantioselectivity were obtained (21–90% ee). A chiral Brönsted acid additive was found to be a key factor to obtain high enantioselectivity.     

Highly efficient and chemoselective direct aldol reaction of acyldiazomethane with aldehydes promoted by MgI2 etherate

College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310032, China MgI₂(Et₂O)_n promoted aldol condensation of various aldehydes with acyldiazomethane was described in the presence of DIPEA in good to excellent yields under mild conditions with high chemoselectivity.