Enantioselective addition of diethylzinc to aldehydes catalyzed by N-(9-phenylfluoren-9-yl) beta-amino alcohols

A set of secondary N-phenylfluorenyl beta-amino alcohols have been prepared and evaluated as catalysts for the enantioselective addition of diethylzinc to benzaldehyde. The influence of the substituents on the stereogenic centers of the ligand has been studied, and enantioselectivities up to 97% have been obtained. Those ligands with bulky groups in the carbinol stereocenter and small groups alpha to the nitrogen atom displayed the best catalytic activity and enantioselectivity. The most enantioselective ligand (4e) was found to possess general applicability for the enantioselective addition of diethylzinc to a variety of aromatic and aliphatic aldehydes.     

Design and use of electrochemical sensors in enantioselective high throughput screening of drugs. A minireview

The importance of reliable detection systems for enantiomeric assays increases with the necessity of high throughput screening analysis of raw materials for the pharmaceutical industry. The utilization of electrochemical sensors in enantioselective analysis is an accurate and precise alternative to chromatographic techniques. The reliability of the response characteristics as well as of the analytical information obtained by using electrochemical sensors is strictly correlated with the design of the sensors. The designs evaluated for sensors have been based on PVC, imprinting polymers and carbon paste matrices. Among these, carbon paste sensors have been the most reliable and have been utilized for the construction of potentiometric, enantioselective membrane electrodes as well as for amperometric biosensors, and immunosensors. There are two ways to use the electrochemical sensors in enantioselective screening analysis: selective binding and catalyst selectivity. A molecule with a special chemical architecture is required for selective binding: a lock for a key. The high reliability of analytical information obtained using these sensors has made possible the automation of potentiometric and amperometric techniques by integration of enantioselective sensors as detectors in flow injection analysis and sequential injection analysis techniques.     

Enantioselective ring expansion of prolinol derivatives. Two formal syntheses of (−)-swainsonine

Two enantioselective formal syntheses of (−)-swainsonine have been achieved from l-proline by using an enantioselective ring enlargement of substituted prolinols as the key step. The more efficient synthesis has been achieved in 14 steps with an overall yield of 14%.     

Bis-sulfonyl ethylene as masked acetylene equivalent in catalytic asymmetric [3 + 2] cycloaddition of azomethine ylides

Enantioenriched 3-pyrrolines have been synthesized by highly enantioselective Fesulphos-Cu-catalyzed 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of azomethine ylides with trans-1,2-bisphenylsulfonyl ethylene, followed by reductive sulfonyl elimination. High levels of reactivity, exoselectivity, and enantioselectivity have been accomplished for a variety of substituted azomethine ylides. This cycloaddition-desulfonylation strategy has been applied as a key step in the enantioselective synthesis of a biologically active C-azanucleoside.     

对映选择性亲电氟化反应研究进展

含氟有机化合物, 特别是手性氟化物在医药、农药及功能性材料等相关领域的作用备受注目. 尽管在分子中有立体选择性地引入一个氟原子一直是有机化学家面临的一个挑战性问题, 近年来在化学家们的不断努力下, 对映选择性氟化反应研究取得重要进展. 高光学活性的手性氟化物可通过手性亲电氟化试剂诱导的立体选择性氟化反应, 基于底物的手性氟化反应以及手性催化剂诱导的不对称催化氟化反应等来制备. 特别是, 手性金属配合物和有机催化剂诱导的不对称催化氟化反应被广泛应用于各类手性氟化物的合成, 已成为不对称氟化反应研究的热点. 全面介绍对映选择性亲电氟化反应研究概况和最新进展, 讨论各种不对称氟化反应的特点及应用范围.     

Highly enantioselective fluorination reactions of β-ketoesters and β-ketophosphonates catalyzed by chiral palladium complexes

Using chiral palladium enolates as key intermediates, efficient catalytic enantioselective fluorination reactions of active methine compounds have been developed. These reactions can be conducted in alcoholic solvents without any precaution to exclude water and moisture, and various β-ketoesters and β-ketophosphonates were fluorinated in a highly enantioselective manner (up to 98% ee).     

Enantioselective methodologies for the synthesis of spiro compounds

The enantioselective synthesis of spirocycles has been a long time pursued dream for organic chemists. Since the first pioneering efforts of Tamao and coworkers in the enantioselective construction of spirosilanes, many efforts have been devoted to the development of new and promising asymmetric methodologies. Remarkably, with the advent of organocatalysis the number of methodologies has been highly increased. The aim of this tutorial review is to summarize the last trends and developments reported in the literature in the enantioselective synthesis of spirocompounds.     

A high-throughput screening protocol for fast evaluation of enantioselective catalysts

A new high-throughput screening protocol that allows fast evaluation of enantioselective catalysts has been developed. The usefulness of norephedrine-derived beta-amino alcohols as catalysts for the enantioselective alkylation of prochiral aldehydes has been determined by simultaneous screening of three representative substrates. GC analysis of the crude product mixture using a selectively modified cyclodextrin as the chiral stationary phase avoids time-consuming workup procedures. The chemical yield, enantioselectivity, substrate specificity, and catalytic activity of the chiral catalysts as well as the induced absolute configuration have been determined in a single screening experiment and two short GC runs.     

Chiral Organocatalysts in Enantioselective CO2 Utilization Reactions

The development of efficient CO₂ utilization reactions has gained a significant amount of attention in recent years. Although transformations of CO₂ to produce basic chemicals have been extensively investigated, the development of catalytic enantioselective CO₂ utilization reactions for the preparation of fine chemicals remains limited at this stage. Several excellent methods for catalytic enantioselective CO₂ utilization using chiral metal complex catalysts have been reported. Many researchers have also focused on developing organocatalyzed approaches to enantioselective CO₂ utilization, and several excellent examples have appeared in recent years. Herein, recent advances in catalytic enantioselective CO₂ utilization reactions using chiral organocatalysts are reviewed to provide a forecast for organocatalyzed enantioselective CO₂ utilization research.     

Organocatalytic Synthesis of Chiral Halogenated Compounds

This account summarizes our recent efforts in the enantioselective organocatalytic synthesis of chiral halogenated compounds. The enantioselective α-halogenation of aldehydes, decarboxylative chlorination of β-keto acids, and enantioselective C−C bond formation at the trifluoromethylated prochiral carbon to yield the corresponding organohalides with chlorinated, fluorinated, or trifluoromethylated chiral stereogenic centers are discussed. We applied common organocatalysts, such as Jørgensen-Hayashi catalyst and cinchona alkaloid-derivatived catalyst, and developed novel chiral amine catalysts for these reactions. This account also discusses stereospecific derivatizations of the resulting chiral halogenated compounds via nucleophilic substitution. Thus, we synthesized many novel chiral compounds that have not been reported, even as racemates.     

Organocatalytic highly enantioselective nitroaldol reaction of alpha-ketophosphonates and nitromethane

[reaction: see text] The first organocatalytic highly enantioselective nitroaldol reaction of alpha-ketophosphonates and nitromethane has been realized by using cupreine (2) or 9-O-benzylcupreine (3) as the catalyst. Both catalysts are highly reactive and highly enantioselective. alpha-Hydroxy-beta-nitrophosphonates have been synthesized in good yields and excellent enantioselectivities (>or=90% ee) at a low catalyst loading (5 mol %). These nitroaldol products may be reduced to the biologically significant beta-amino-alpha-hydroxyphosphonates with complete retention of the stereochemistry.     

Organocatalytic transfer hydrogenation of cyclic enones

The first enantioselective organocatalytic transfer hydrogenation of cyclic enones has been accomplished. The use of iminium catalysis has provided a new organocatalytic strategy for the enantioselective reduction of beta,beta-substituted alpha,beta-unsaturated cycloalkenones, to generate beta-stereogenic cyclic ketones. The use of imidazolidinone 4 as the asymmetric catalyst has been found to mediate the hydrogenation of a large class of enone substrates with tert-butyl Hantzsch ester serving as an inexpensive source of hydrogen. The capacity of catalyst 4 to enable enantioselective transfer hydrogenation of cycloalkenones has been extended to five-, six-, and seven-membered ring systems. The sense of asymmetric induction is in complete accord with the stereochemical model first reported in conjunction with the use of catalyst 4 for enantioselective ketone Diels-Alder reactions.     

Rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric conjugate additions of boronic acids using monodentate phosphoramidite ligands

Monodentate phosphoramidites have been used for the first time as chiral ligands in the Rh-catalyzed enantioselective conjugate addition of arylboronic acids to enones, unsaturated esters, lactones, and nitro alkenes. High reaction rates and ee's up to 89% have been obtained.     

Chiral Lewis base-assisted Brønsted acid (LBBA)-catalyzed enantioselective cyclization of 2-geranylphenols

Chiral Lewis base-assisted Br?nsted acids (Chiral LBBAs) have been designed as new organocatalysts for biomimetic enantioselective cyclization. A salt of a chiral phosphonous acid diester with FSO(3)H catalyzes the enantioselective cyclization of 2-geranylphenols to give the desired trans-fused cyclized products with high diastereo- and enantioselectivities (up to 98:2 dr and 93% ee).     

Recent developments in asymmetric multicomponent reactions

Multicomponent reactions (MCRs) receive increasing attention because they address both diversity and complexity in organic synthesis. Thus, in principle diverse sets of relatively complex structures can be generated from simple starting materials in a single reaction step. The ever increasing need for optically pure compounds for pharmaceutical and agricultural applications as well as for catalysis promotes the development of asymmetric multicomponent reactions. In recent years, asymmetric multicomponent reactions have been applied to the total synthesis of various enantiopure natural products and commercial drugs, reducing the number of required reaction steps significantly. Although many developments in diastereoselective MCRs have been reported, the field of catalytic enantioselective MCRs has just started to blossom. This critical review describes developments in both diastereoselective and catalytic enantioselective multicomponent reactions since 2004. Significantly broadened scopes, new techniques, more environmentally benign methods and entirely novel MCRs reflect the increasingly inventive paths that synthetic chemist follow in this field. Until recently, enantioselective transition metal-catalyzed MCRs represented the majority of catalytic enantioselective MCRs. However, metal contamination is highly undesirable for drug synthesis. The emergence of organocatalysis greatly influences the quest for new asymmetric MCRs.     

Enantioselective cyanocarbonation of ketones with chiral base

A highly enantioselective cyanocarbonation of dialkyl ketones catalyzed by commercially available and easily recyclable cinchona alkaloid derivatives has been developed. The reaction provides a useful approach for the enantioselective construction of tetrasubstituted carbon stereocenters. Mechanistic studies have been carried out to shed light on the origin of the catalytic activity of the cinchona alkaloid and the asymmetric induction step.     

Enantioselective Desymmetrization of Cyclobutanones Enabled by Synergistic Palladium/Enamine Catalysis

The enantioselective intramolecular α‐arylation of cyclobutanones has been established by combining palladium and enamine catalyst systems. Two different enantioselective control strategies have been developed for cyclobutanone substrates bearing O‐ or N‐tethered aryl bromides. Further synthetic applications are also reported.     

Design and synthesis of new chiral pyridine–phosphite ligands for the copper-catalyzed enantioselective conjugate addition of diethylzinc to acyclic enones

A series of new chiral pyridine–phosphite ligands have been prepared from (R)-pyridyl alcohols and BINOL-derived chlorophosphite, and successfully employed in the copper-catalyzed enantioselective conjugate addition of diethylzinc to acyclic enones. Using the simple and inexpensive CuBr₂ as a precursor, the enantioselective additions to various substituted acyclic enones afforded products in high yields and good enantioselectivities (up to 92% ee).     

Recent Advances in Asymmetric Catalysis Using p-Block Elements

The development of new methods for enantioselective reactions that generate stereogenic centres within molecules are a cornerstone of organic synthesis. Typically, metal catalysts bearing chiral ligands as well as chiral organocatalysts have been employed for the enantioselective synthesis of organic compounds. In this review, we highlight the recent advances in main group catalysis for enantioselective reactions using the p-block elements (boron, aluminium, phosphorus, bismuth) as a complementary and sustainable approach to generate chiral molecules. Several of these catalysts benefit in terms of high abundance, low toxicity, high selectivity, and excellent reactivity. This minireview summarises the utilisation of chiral p-block element catalysts for asymmetric reactions to generate value-added compounds.     

Diphenylprolinol silyl ether as catalyst of an asymmetric, catalytic, and direct Michael reaction of nitroalkanes with alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes

A catalytic enantioselective direct conjugate addition of nitroalkanes to alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes using diphenylprolinol silyl ether as an organocatalyst has been developed. Using this methodology as a key step, short syntheses of therapeutically useful compounds have also been accomplished.