Catalytic enantioselective transamination of alpha-keto esters: an organic approach to enzymatic reactions

The half-transamination reaction of alpha-keto esters with pyridoxamine or 4-picolylamine was found to be catalysed by different metal catalysts in organic solvents giving moderate yields and enantioselectivities of up to 37% ee for methyl-3-indole pyruvate.     

Copper-catalyzed enantioselective substitution of allylic carbonates with diboron: an efficient route to optically active alpha-chiral allylboronates

A method for the synthesis of alpha-chiral allylboronates featuring the Cu(I)-catalyzed enantioselective substitution of readily available allylic carbonates with a diboron is described. Using this method, various alpha-chiral allylboronates, including functionalized allylboronates, were successfully synthesized, with high enantiomeric purity.     

Chiral Lewis acid-catalyzed enantioselective intramolecular carbonyl ene reactions of unsaturated alpha-keto esters

[reaction: see text] Chiral Lewis acid-promoted highly enantioselective intramolecular carbonyl ene reactions of unsaturated alpha-keto esters have been investigated. In the presence of chiral Lewis acids such as [Sc((R,R)-Ph-pybox)](OTf)(3) and [Cu((S,S)-Ph-box)](OTf)(2), several unsaturated alpha-keto esters underwent carbonyl ene reactions in CH(2)Cl(2) at room temperature to give monocyclic products in good yield and excellent enantioselectivity.     

Catalyhtic asymmetric Henry reactions--a simple approach to optically active beta-nitro alpha-hydroxy esters

The development and potential of a catalytic enantioselective Henry reaction of nitromethane with various alpha-keto esters catalyzed by chiral bisoxazoline-copper(II) complexes are presented.     

Catalytic enantioselective aza-Diels-alder reactions of imines--an approach to optically active nonproteinogenic alpha-amino acids

A catalytic enantioselective aza-Diels-Alder reaction of imines has been developed. The reaction of N-tosyl alpha-imino ester with different dienes including activated, non-activated, cyclic, and acyclic dienes has been investigated in the presence of various chiral Lewis acids. A series of phosphino-oxazoline ligands have been synthesized and evaluated for the reaction. It was found that the combination of phosphino-oxazoline ligands with copper(I) salts gives the best results for the activated dienes, while BINAP-copper(I) complexes are good catalysts for all the dienes studied. In the case of activated acyclic dienes the aza-Diels-Alder products can be obtained in higher than 80% isolated yield and 96% ee, while for the unactivated cyclic dienes the exo diastereomer is formed as the major product in up to 95 % ee. For an activated cyclic conjugated diene, 2-trimethylsilyloxy-1,3-cyclohexadiene, the reaction proceeds as a Mannich-type addition reaction giving optically active gamma-oxo alpha-amino acid derivatives in good yields and up to 96% ee. The reaction of an unactivated acyclic diene, 2,3-dimethyl-1,3-butadiene, with the N-tosyl alpha-imino ester gives both the aza-Diels-Alder and aza-ene products, in a ratio of 9:1 favoring the aza-Diels-Alder product. Furthermore, a series of different imines have been synthesized and investigated as possible substrates for the present catalytic enantioselective aza-Diels-Alder reaction in order to obtain mechanistic insight. All imines studied gave moderate to high ee. Particularly, the reaction of the N-phenyl and N-p-methoxyphenyl substituted glyoxylate imines with Danishefsky's diene proceeded well affording the corresponding aza-Diels-Alder product in high yield with up to 91% ee at room temperature. The present catalytic enantioselective reaction of imines provided an effective route to optically active nonproteinogenic alpha-amino acids. The products of the catalytic enantioselective aza-Diels-Alder reaction of the cyclic dienes can be used for the preparation of key compounds such as natural products and compounds of pharmaceutical interest. The absolute configurations of five products have been solved by X-ray structural analysis, and it is found that the absolute configuration of the aza-Diels-Alder adduct is dependent on the substituent on the imine nitrogen atom. It turned out that the N-tosyl glyoxylate imine and N-p-methoxyphenyl glyoxylate imine give the aza-Diels-Alder adduct with opposite absolute configuration using the same enantiomer of the catalyst. On the basis of the results the mechanistic aspects for the reactions are discussed.     

An easy entry to optically active alpha-amino phosphonic acid derivatives using phase-transfer catalysis (PTC)

The unprecedented use of phase-transfer catalysis (PTC) in an asymmetric hydrophosphonylation reaction allows the obtainment of a range of optically active alpha-amino phosphonic acid derivatives directly from alpha-amido sulfones.     

Catalytic asymmetric direct alpha-amination reactions of 2-keto esters: a simple synthetic approach to optically active syn-beta-amino-alpha-hydroxy esters

The catalytic enantioselective direct alpha-amination reaction of 2-keto esters with easily available azo dicarboxylates as the nitrogen source and chiral bisoxazoline-copper(II) complexes as the catalyst is presented. The reactions proceed with excellent enantioselectivities and high yields. The scope of the reaction is demonstrated by the direct amination of a series of 2-keto esters having different substituent patterns. The reaction provides an easy catalytic route to optically active syn-beta-amino-alpha-hydroxy esters, as demonstrated for the synthesis of masked syn-beta-amino-alpha-hydroxy esters (as oxazolidinones) and N-Boc-syn-beta-amino-alpha-hydroxy esters. On the basis of the absolute configuration of the products a tentative model for the transition state is suggested.     

Copper-catalyzed enantioselective propargylic amination of nonaromatic propargylic esters with amines

The enantioselective propargylic amination of propargylic pentafluorobenzoates bearing an alkyl group at the propargylic position with amines in the presence of catalytic amounts of a copper complex and an optically active diphosphine such as BINAP has been found to give the corresponding propargylic amines in good yields with high enantioselectivity.     

Hydrophobic interactions in the enantioselective solvolyses of optically active activated esters by imidazole-containing polymeric surfactants

Enantioselective solvolyses of optically active activated esters in the aggregate system of optically active polymeric surfactants containing imidazole and benzene moieties were performed. The catalyst polymers [copoly(MHis-DEVAB)] employed were copolymers of N-methacryloyl-L -histidine methyl ester (MHis) with N,N-dimethyl-N-hexadecyl-N-[10-(p-vinylcarboxanilido) decyl]ammonium bromide(DEVAB). In the solvolyses of N-carbobenzoxy-D - and L -phenylalanine p-nitrophenyl esters (D -NBP and L -NBP) by polymeric catalysts, copoly(MHis-DEVAB) exhibited not only increased catalytic activity but also enhanced enantioselectivity as the mole percent of surfactant monomers in the copolymers increased. The polymeric catalysts showed noticeable enantioselective solvolyses toward D - and L -NBP of the substrates employed. As the reaction temperature was lowered for the solvolyses of D - and L -NBP with the catalyst polymer containing 4.8 mol% of MHis, an increased reaction rate and enhanced enantioselectivity were observed. The coaggregate systems of the polymer and monomeric surfactants were also investigated. The case of a coaggregate system consisting of 70 mol% of cetyldimethylethylammonium bromide with polymeric catalyst showed maximum enantioselective catalysis, viz., k_cat (L )/k_cat(D ) = 6.68. The catalyst polymers in the sonicated solvolytic solutions were confirmed to form large ordered aggregate structure by electron microscopic observation. From these results, it is concluded that hydrophobic interaction in ordered aggregate structure plays an important role in enantioselective catalysis of optically active imidazole-containing polymers.     

Highly stereoselective oxy-michael additions to beta,gamma-unsaturated alpha-keto esters: rapid enantioselective synthesis of 3-hydroxybutenolides

The highly diastereoselective oxy-Michael addition of the "naked" anion of (6S)-methyl delta-lactol to gamma-substituted beta,gamma-unsaturated alpha-keto esters leading to the direct formation of THP*-protected gamma-hydroxy alpha-keto ester derivatives is described. Subsequent acid-mediated deprotection affords the 3-hydroxybutenolides in high yields.     

An efficient entry to optically active anti- and syn-beta-amino-alpha-trifluoromethyl alcohols

The reaction of chiral 5,6-dihydro-2H-1,4-oxazin-2-ones with TMSCF3 in the presence of a suitable activator leads to trifluoromethyl lactols, which can be selectively reduced to anti-beta-amino-alpha-trifluoromethyl alcohols. The corresponding syn diastereoisomers are obtained when the starting imines are reduced and the nitrogen atom is conveniently protected. In addition, a novel rearrangement of the CF3 group in the lactol intermediates has been observed. This represents a formal CF3 addition to the imine function in the starting substrates.     

An easy approach to optically active alpha-amino phosphonic acid derivatives by chiral Zn(II)-catalyzed enantioselective amination of phosphonates

A catalytic direct enantioselective electrophilic amination of beta-keto phosphonates has been developed applying chiral bisoxazoline-zinc(II) complexes as the catalyst. The reaction proceeds well for both acyclic and cyclic substrates in high yields and with up to 98% ee using azodicarboxylates as the nitrogen source. The scope of the reaction is, for example, the further transformation to optically active beta-hydroxy-alpha-amino phosphonates with very high stereoselection.     

Catalytic enantioselective stereoablative reactions: an unexploited approach to enantioselective catalysis

Approaches to the preparation of enantioenriched materials via catalytic methods that destroy stereogenic elements of a molecule are discussed. Although these processes often decrease overall molecular complexity, there are several notable advantages including material recycling, enantiodivergence and convergence, and increased substrate scope. Examples are accompanied by discussion of the critical design elements required for the success of these methods.     

Direct, catalytic enantioselective nitroaldol (Henry) reaction of trifluoromethyl ketones: an asymmetric entry to alpha-trifluoromethyl-substituted quaternary carbons

Herein we describe the first direct, catalytic enantioselective nitroaldol (Henry) reaction of simple alpha-trifluoromethyl ketones with nitromethane using a chiral monometallic lanthanum(III) triflate salt complex, namely [(Delta,S,S,S)-Binolam]3.La(OTf)3, as enantioselective catalyst. The resulting alpha-trifluoromethyl tertiary nitroaldols were obtained in moderate to high yields (up to 93%) and enantioselectivities (up to 98% ee). These adducts are versatile chiral building blocks and may be reduced (NiCl2/NaBH4) to their beta-amino-alpha-trifluoromethyl tertiary alcohols without loss of enantiomeric purity.     

New route to optically active amine derivatives: ruthenium-catalyzed enantioselective hydrogenation of ene carbamates

The reaction of cyclic ketones with tert-butyl or benzyl carbamate under acidic conditions directly affords prochiral ene carbamates. Their enantioselective hydrogenation in the presence of a chiral ruthenium catalyst provides a new access to optically active carbamates easy to deprotect to the corresponding optically active amines.     

Syntheses and reactions of optically active alpha-aminoallenylstannanes

Lithiation/stannylation of optically active N-propargyloxazolidinones produced optically active alpha-oxazolidinonylallenylstannanes. Reaction of these with aldehydes in the presence of BF(3).OEt(2) produced beta-hydroxypropargylamines with high syn diastereoselectivity and ee. These were converted to gamma-hydroxy-beta-amino acids by oxidative cleavage of the alkyne.