Synthesis of Methyl 4,6-Di-O-ethyl-α-d-glucopyranoside-Based Azacrown Ethers and Their Effects in Asymmetric Reactions

Carbohydrate-based crown ethers have been reported to be able to generate asymmetric induction in certain reactions. Previously, it was proved that the monosaccharide unit, the anomeric substituent, and the sidearm could influence the catalytic activity of the monoaza-15-crown-5 macrocycles derived from sugars. In order to gain information about the effect of the flexibility, 4,6-di-O-ethyl-glucoside-based crown compounds were synthesized, and their efficiency was compared to the 4,6-O-benzylidene analogues. It was found that the absence of the two-ring annulation has a negative effect on the enantioselectivity in liquid-liquid two-phase reactions: in the Darzens condensation of 2-chloroacetophenone and in the epoxidation of chalcone. The same trend was observed in the solid-liquid phase Michael addition of diethyl acetamidomalonate. Surprisingly, in the solid-liquid phase cyclopropanation of benzylidenemalononitrile, one of the new catalysts was highly enantioselective (99% ee).     

基于天然氨基酸的双环手性季铵盐相转移催化剂的合成及催化性能研究

以L－脯氨酸及L－羟基脯氨酸为原料合成了4个新型手性季铵盐磁相转移催化 剂，并用于催化不对称查耳酮环氧化反应，高产率得到相应环氧化合物，ee最高达 9％。     

含松香骨架的新型手性季铵盐相转移催化剂的合成及其在不对称环氧化反应中的应用

以天然松香为原料合成了4个新型手性季铵盐类相转移催化剂, 并用于催化不对称查尔酮环氧化反应, 发现这类手性相转移催化剂可以有效地催化查尔酮的不对称环氧化, 环氧化产物ee最高达20%.     

Asymmetric Total Synthesis of (−)‐Erogorgiaene and Its C‐11 Epimer and Investigation of Their Antimycobacterial Activity

A short, nine‐step, highly enantioselective synthesis of (?)‐erogorgiaene and its C‐11 epimer is reported. The key stereochemistry controlling steps involve catalytic asymmetric crotylation, anionic oxy‐Cope rearrangement and cationic cyclisation. (?)‐Erogorgiaene exhibited promising antitubercular activity against multidrug‐resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.     

Quaternary β2,2‐Amino Acids: Catalytic Asymmetric Synthesis and Incorporation into Peptides by Fmoc‐Based Solid‐Phase Peptide Synthesis

β‐Amino acid incorporation has emerged as a promising approach to enhance the stability of parent peptides and to improve their biological activity. Owing to the lack of reliable access to β^2,2‐amino acids in a setting suitable for peptide synthesis, most contemporary research efforts focus on the use of β³‐ and certain β^2,3‐amino acids. Herein, we report the catalytic asymmetric synthesis of β^2,2‐amino acids and their incorporation into peptides by Fmoc‐based solid‐phase peptide synthesis (Fmoc‐SPPS). A quaternary carbon center was constructed by the palladium‐catalyzed decarboxylative allylation of 4‐substituted isoxazolidin‐5‐ones. The N?O bond in the products not only acts as a traceless protecting group for β‐amino acids but also undergoes amide formation with α‐ketoacids derived from Fmoc‐protected α‐amino acids, thus providing expeditious access to α‐β^2,2‐dipeptides ready for Fmoc‐SPPS.     

Cover Picture: Recent Asymmetric Phase-Transfer Catalysis with Chiral Binaphthyl-Modified and Related Phase-Transfer Catalysts over the Last 10 Years (Chem. Rec. 7/2023)

In this personal account, we describe our recent advances in the three types of phase-transfer catalysis for various transformations including asymmetric induction: Firstly, asymmetric phase-transfer catalysis with Maruoka-type C₂-symmetric chiral biaryl-modified tetraalkylammonium salts and phosphonium salts; Secondly, asymmetric phase-transfer catalysis under base-free and neutral conditions; Thirdly, hydrogen-bonding catalysis using tetraalkylammonium and trialkylsulfonium salts. These three different strategies are illustrated by using various phase-transfer catalyzed transformations.     

使用手性相转移催化剂合成D-苯丙氨酸

目前,氨基酸不对称合成方法甚多,但是使用手性相转移催化剂未见有报道。本文报道在同位素标记氨基酸不对称合成研究中,用非标记甘氨酸进行模型试验的初步结果:使用(-)-氯化-N-苄基辛可尼丁鎓作催化剂,可获得近90%光学纯度的 D-苯丙氨酸,化学产率61.6%。     

Asymmetric Dearomative Fluorination of 2-Naphthols with a Dicarboxylate Phase-Transfer Catalyst

A linked dicarboxylate phase-transfer catalyst enables smooth asymmetric dearomative fluorination of 2-naphthols with Selectfluor under mild conditions to give the corresponding 1-fluoronaphthalenone derivatives in a highly enantioselective manner. This reaction, which is compatible with a range of functional groups, is the first example of catalytic asymmetric fluorination of 2-naphthols, and is expected to be useful in the synthesis of bioactive molecules.     

Recent developments in the catalytic asymmetric synthesis of alpha- and beta-amino acids

The stereoselective synthesis of amino acids is of great importance for the construction of optically active natural products and pharmaceuticals. Apart from enzymes, a broad repertoire of chiral reagents, auxiliaries, and catalysts can be used for the formation of amino acids. Asymmetric reactions using catalytic amounts of chiral molecules provide efficient methods for the generation of optically active proteinogenic and nonproteinogenic amino acids. This minireview collects recent work on catalytic asymmetric synthesis of alpha- and beta-amino acids.     

Discovery and Application of Doubly Quaternized Cinchona‐Alkaloid‐Based Phase‐Transfer Catalysts

We report the discovery of novel N,N′‐disubstituted cinchona alkaloids as efficient phase‐transfer catalysts for the assembly of stereogenic quaternary centers. In comparison to traditional cinchona‐alkaloid‐based phase‐transfer catalysts, these new catalysts afford substantial improvements in enantioselectivity and reaction rate for intramolecular spirocyclization reactions with catalyst loadings as low as 0.3 mol % under mild conditions.     

Synthesis and Application of Novel Chiral Poly-nuclear-Mn(Ⅲ) Catalysts on Asymmetric Epoxidation of Alkenes

The interest of the coordination chemistry of manganese has been driver by the important roles of metalloenzymes and highly valuable catalysts in olefin expoxidation.1 Jacobsen Salen-Mn complexes with a simple structure have been commercially utilized to catalyze asymmetric epoxidation of unfunctionalized cis-alkenes2, but the catalytic enantioselectivity for trans-alkenes, unfortunately, are lower and this kinds of complexes are unstable and difficult to be recovered for reuse.3 In order to improve the catalytic activity and recyclability, many new catalysts including the supported catalysts,heterogeneous catalysts and else modified catalysts have been studied, however their comprehensive effects are unsatisfying.4Recently, some studies in interrelated realm showed that the catalytic performance of bi- or poly-nuclear complexes was superior to that of monomer.5 Meanwhile, our previous studies also showed that properly increasing the molecular weight of catalysts as well as the extent of conjugation of active center would not only result in high activity or reactivity but also its stability and recyclablity, aiding product isolation and catalyst recovery.6For these reasons we designed and synthesized the chiral poly-Mn(Ⅲ) complexes in which active sites were conjugated in certain distance side by side though central nucleus of 4, 6-dihydroxy- isophthalaldehyde (see the scheme). These novel Mn(Ⅲ) complexes have been investigated for the first time as catalysts (lmol%)for the asymmetric epoxidation of alkenes by using pure urea-H2O2 as oxidant and NH4OAc as additive in CH2Cl2/MeOH, showing high activity and good enantioselectivity. All reactions were finished in 1.5h. Rather surprisingly, a marginal increase in ee was observed when the concentration of the substrate was increased from 0.01 to 0.5M. The poly-nuclear complex formation enhanced the catalyst's reactivity and stability. It, unlike mononuclear, could be easily recovered and reused several cycles with a decline of yield but a keep of ee's.A low concentration requirement of catalyst, high ee and chemical activity, mild reaction conditions and catalytic recycles render the kinds of complexes attractive.     

H-Bond Mediated Phase-Transfer Catalysis: Enantioselective Generating of Quaternary Stereogenic Centers in β-Keto Esters

In this work, we would like to present the development of a highly optimized method for generating the quaternary stereogenic centers in β-keto esters. This enantioselective phase-transfer alkylation catalyzed by hybrid Cinchona catalysts allows for the efficient generation of the optically active products with excellent enantioselectivity, using only 1 mol% of the catalyst. The vast majority of phase-transfer catalysts in asymmetric synthesis work by creating ionic pairs with the nucleophile-attacking anionic substrate. Therefore, it is a sensible approach to search for new methodologies capable of introducing functional groups into the precursor’s structure, maintaining high yields and enantiomeric purity.     

Kinetics of the Volume and Surface Reactions in the Phase-Transfer Catalytic Aminolysis of 4-Nitrophenyl Acetate

It was shown that a distribution-type kinetic model can be used to describe the mechanism of the phase-transfer catalytic aminolysis of 4-nitrophenyl acetate with potassium glycinate in chlorobenzene with 18-crown-6 as catalyst. A quantitative assessment was made of the contributions from the reactions in the volume and at the interface in the solid/liquid system.