NHC–copper-catalyzed asymmetric 1,4-addition of diarylphosphines to α,β-unsaturated ketones

N-Heterocyclic carbene–copper-catalyzed asymmetric 1,4-addition of diarylphosphines to α,β-unsaturated ketones was developed for the synthesis of chiral phosphorus derivatives in high yields with moderate enantioselectivity under mild conditions.     

Copper-catalyzed asymmetric tandem double Michael reactions of diethylzinc to α,β-unsaturated ketones followed by trapping with nitroolefins

A copper catalyzed asymmetric tandem double Michael addition of diethylzinc to α,β-unsaturated ketones followed by trapping with nitroolefins has been developed using chiral P,N-ligands. The tandem products were obtained in good yields and excellent enantioselectivities with three contiguous stereocenters.     

Rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric 1,4-addition of arylboron reagents to α,β-unsaturated esters

Reaction of arylboron reagents, arylboronic acids or arylborates, which are readily accessible by lithiation of aryl bromides followed by treatment with trimethoxyborane, with α,β-unsaturated esters in the presence of rhodium/(S)-binap catalyst proceeded with high enantioselectivity to give high yields of optically active β-aryl esters of up to 98% ee. The enantioselectivity depends on the steric bulkiness of the ester moiety.     

Rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric 1,4-addition of sodium tetraarylborates to β,β-disubstituted α,β-unsaturated esters

A rhodium-catalyzed 1,4-addition of sodium tetraarylborates to β,β-disubstituted α,β-unsaturated esters has been developed. Highly efficient asymmetric catalysis has also been described to create quaternary carbon stereocenters at the β-position of esters by tuning the ester group of substrates and employing a readily available chiral diene ligand.     

Rh-catalyzed asymmetric 1,4-addition of arylboronic acids to α,β-unsaturated ketones with DIFLUORPHOS and SYNPHOS analogues

Applications of electron-deficient DIFLUORPHOS and SYNPHOS analogues in the rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric conjugate addition of boronic acids to α,β-unsaturated ketones afford the 1,4-addition adducts in yields up to 92% and with 99% ee. Particularly, a Rh-catalyzed asymmetric 1,4-addition of arylboronic acids to nonsubstituted maleimide substrates using the (R)-3,5-diCF(3)-SYNPHOS ligand is also reported. This protocol provides access to various enantioenriched 3-substituted succinimide units of biological interest, in high yields and good to excellent ee up to 93%, which could be upgraded up to 99% ee, after a single crystallization.     

Enantioselective 1,4-addition of aryllithium reagents to α,β-unsaturated tert-butyl esters in the presence of chiral additives

Reaction of t-BuLi with a mixture of aryl bromide and chiral diamine, amino ether or diether, in toluene at −78°C provided chiral aryllithium complexes efficiently. Reaction of these aryllithium complexes with α,β-unsaturated tert-butyl esters afforded the 1,4-addition products in up to 88% ee.     

Palladium-catalyzed 1,4-addition of diarylphosphines to α,β-unsaturated aldehydes

A highly stereoselective asymmetric 1,4-addition of diarylphosphines to α,β-unsaturated aldehydes catalyzed by a bis(phosphine) pincer-Pd complex has been developed for the synthesis of chiral phosphines with excellent stereoselectivity (up to 98% ee) under mild conditions. The application of the current method to the synthesis of enantiopure bisphosphine and its pincer-Pd complex has also been demonstrated.     

Palladium-catalyzed 1,4-addition of diarylphosphines to α,β-unsaturated N-acylpyrroles

Highly stereoselective asymmetric 1,4-addition of diarylphosphines to α,β-unsaturated N-acylpyrroles catalyzed by a PCP pincer-Pd complex has been developed for the synthesis of chiral phosphines with excellent stereoselectivity (91-99% ee) under mild conditions. The products obtained can be further converted into chiral phosphine-oxazoline ligands.     

New chiral 1,4-aminoalcohols derived from (+)-camphor and (−)-fenchone for the enantioselective addition of diethylzinc to aldehyde

Various optically active 1,4-aminoalcohols were synthesized from (+)-camphor and (−)-fenchone. The aminoalcohols 5 or 6-mediated enantioselective addition reactions of diethylzinc to benzaldehyde resulted in the formation of the optically active secondary alcohol in good yield. When the catalyst derived from (+)-camphor was used, the (S)-alcohol was obtained in high ee, while the (R)-alcohol was obtained in the reaction with the catalyst derived from (−)-fenchone.     

Rhodium catalyzed asymmetric 1,4-addition of arylboronic acids to β,γ-unsaturated α-keto ester using chiral tert-butanesulfinylphosphines ligands

Rh-Catalyzed asymmetric 1,4-selective addition of arylboronic acids to β,γ-unsaturated α-keto ester was developed using chiral tert-butanesulfinylphosphine as ligand, good yields (up to 87%), good 1,4-regioselectivities (up to 96:4), and high enantioselectivities (up to 94% ee) were achieved.     

Rh(I)-catalyzed asymmetric 1,2-addition to α-diketones with chiral sulfur-alkene hybrid ligands

This paper describes a Rh(I)-catalyzed highly efficient and enantioselective 1,2-addition of arylboronic acids to α-diketones with the use of a simple sulfur-alkene hybrid ligand. With as low as a 0.1 mol % catalyst loading, a variety of optically active α-hydroxyketones can be furnished in high yields with excellent ee's.     

Cinchona-based primary amine-catalyzed enantioselective aza-Michael reactions of pyrroles with α,β-unsaturated aldehydes

The cinchona-based primary amine-catalyzed enantioselective aza-Michael reaction of α,β-unsaturated aldehydes with 4,5-dihalo-1H-pyrrole-2-carbonitriles as the N-centered heteroaromatic nucleophile, followed by chemoselective reduction provided the corresponding chiral aza-Michael products in good yields and with excellent enantioselectivities (90–97% ee).     

Synthesis of novel chiral bidentate hydroxyalkyl-N-heterocyclic carbene ligands and their application in palladium-catalyzed Mizoroki–Heck couplings and asymmetric addition of diethylzinc to benzaldehyde

A small library of new chiral bidentate hydroxyalkyl-imidazolium salts 1 is conveniently synthesized on multi-gram scale from inexpensive and commercially available chiral pool amino acids. The corresponding carbenes, generated by deprotonation of imidazolium salts 1, in combination with palladium(II) chloride were tested in the Mizoroki–Heck coupling reaction. The most significant results in terms of yields and reactivities were achieved with low catalyst loading. The catalytic activities of these imidazolium salts were also investigated in the asymmetric addition of diethylzinc to benzaldehyde. The use of MgO nanoparticles as an additive in conjunction with these ligands played a crucial role in increasing the efficiency of these reactions.     

Copper catalysed 1,4-addition of organozinc reagents to α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds: a mechanistic investigation

A mechanistic study of the 1,4-addition of diethylzinc to 2-cyclohexenone catalysed by copper complexes of the Schiff base ligand H₂L1 was performed. The kinetic law of this system was determined and the nature of the different copper complexes involved in the reaction was investigated. The experimental results indicate a first-order dependence of the reaction rate on 2-cyclohexenone concentration, a zero-order on diethylzinc concentration, and a first-order dependence with respect to the concentration of a 1:1.2 mixture of Cu(OTf)₂ and H₂L1. A sharp change in the kinetics of the reaction was observed at catalyst concentrations higher than 9 mM, indicating the possible formation of catalytically inactive species. An aggregate copper complex, with the molecular formula [(CuL1)₂ · Cu(OTf)₂](TfOH)_1/3 (1), is formed upon mixing Cu(OTf)₂ and ligand H₂L1 in toluene. Complex 1 is reduced in situ to a catalytically active copper(I) species by addition of 12 equivalents of Et₂Zn. This species is able to perform the conjugate addition to 2-cyclohexenone under stoichiometric conditions and resumes its catalytic activity in the presence of 2-cyclohexenone and Et₂Zn.     

Effect of chiral diene ligands in rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric addition of arylboronic acids to α,β-unsaturated sulfonyl compounds

Asymmetric addition of arylboronic acids to α,β-unsaturated sulfonyl compounds proceeded in the presence of a rhodium catalyst coordinated with a chiral diene ligand to give high yields of the addition products with high enantioselectivity (96->99.5% ee). The diene ligand was proved to be essential for the formation of the addition products, while the use of a bisphosphine ligand mainly gave the cine-substitution product.     

Dinuclear zinc catalyzed asymmetric tandem Michael addition/acetalization reactions of cyclic diketones and β,γ-unsaturated α-ketoesters

The dinuclear zinc–ProPhenol complex is applied as efficient catalyst in the highly stereoselective tandem Michael addition/acetalization reactions of cyclic 1,3-diketones and β,γ-unsaturated α-ketoesters. A variety of substrates are well-tolerated, and a broad range of synthetically and pharmaceutically useful chiral chromene derivatives are directly produced in good yields of up to 96% and good enantioselectivities of up to 96% ee.     

Electronic tuning of chiral diene ligands in iridium-catalyzed asymmetric 1,6-addition of arylboroxines to δ-aryl-α,β,γ,δ-unsaturated ketones

Asymmetric addition of arylboroxines to δ-aryl-α,β,γ,δ-unsaturated ketones proceeded in the presence of an iridium catalyst coordinated with a chiral diene ligand to give high yields of δ-diaryl ketones with very high enantioselectivity.