The first example of enamine-Lewis acid cooperative bifunctional catalysis: application to the asymmetric aldol reaction

(-)-Sparteine directed lithiation of N-Boc-pyrrolidine, alkylation with chloromethylboronate pinacol ester and acid-based deprotection provides homoboroproline HX salt in 94% ee, which is then an efficient enamine-type pyrrolidine catalyst in an asymmetric aldol reaction when neutralised and especially when esterified in situ with a tartrate ester, for example, providing 90% ee of the aldol adduct derived from acetone and p-nitrobenzaldehyde.     

Pyrrolidine as an efficient organocatalyst for direct aldol reaction of trifluoroacetaldehyde ethyl hemiacetal with ketones

Pyrrolidine-catalyzed aldol reaction of trifluoroacetaldehyde ethyl hemiacetal (1) with ketones or aldehydes was described. In the presence of 20 mol % of pyrrolidine, the reaction proceeded smoothly at room temperature to afford the aldol products in good to excellent yields (up to 95%). Pyrrolidine showed a much higher catalytic activity than piperidine in the reaction with less reactive ketones. GC analysis clearly indicated that the catalyst and the enamine intermediates were kept at extremely low concentration during the reaction. Based on these observations, we suggested that formation of the enamine would be a rate-determining step for the catalytic aldol reaction. In addition, the asymmetric aldol reaction of 1 with cyclohexanone catalyzed by l-proline derivatives was also discussed.     

Synthesis of the spiro fused β-lactone-γ-lactam segment of oxazolomycin

An effective synthetic strategy for construction of the novel spiro-bicyclic β-lactone-γ-lactam system present in oxazolomycin has been demonstrated. The 3,4-disubstituted pyrrolidine ring system was constructed via an Evans aldol reaction. The spiro-β-lactone ring was elaborated from a gem-hydroxymethyl moiety that was successfully installed by an aldol followed by a crossed Cannizzaro reaction.     

Primary amino acids: privileged catalysts in enantioselective organocatalysis

Despite the recent spectacular advances in asymmetric organocatalysis, proline and its analogues have been predominantly employed as organocatalysts in reactions utilizing enamine intermediates. Recent studies of enantioselective organocatalytic reactions promoted by primary amino acids and their derivatives are described in this account. The primary amino functions, rather than the secondary pyrrolidine moiety, have been shown to provide unique reactivity and stereoselectivity in asymmetric aldol and Mannich reactions.     

Small organic molecule catalyzed enantioselective direct aldol reaction in water

Protonated pyrrolidine based small organic molecules have been designed and evaluated for the asymmetric direct aldol reaction in water. The designed organocatalysts are multifunctional in nature and exploit the combined effect of hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions for enantioselective catalysis in water. As a result a unique direct asymmetric aldol reaction in water catalyzed by a small organic molecule having an amide linkage has been developed. The developed catalyst affords chiral β-hydroxyketones in good yields (93%) and enantioselectivities (upto 62%) in water.     

Lewis base catalyzed aldol additions of chiral trichlorosilyl enolates and silyl enol ethers

[structures: see text] The consequences of double diastereodifferentiation in chiral Lewis base catalyzed aldol additions using chiral enoxysilanes derived from lactate, 3-hydroxyisobutyrate, and 3-hydroxybutyrate have been investigated. Trichlorosilyl enolates derived from the chiral methyl and ethyl ketones were subjected to aldolization in the presence of phosphoramides, and the intrinsic selectivity of these enolates and the external stereoinduction from chiral catalyst were studied. In the reactions with the lactate derived enolate, the strong internal stereoinduction dominated the stereochemical outcome of the aldol addition. For the 3-hydroxyisobutyrate- and 3-hydroxybutyrate derived enolates, the catalyst-controlled diastereoselectivities were observed, and the resident stereogenic centers exerted marginal influence. The corresponding trimethylsilyl enol ethers were employed in SiCl4/bisphosphoramide catalyzed aldol additions, and the effect of double diastereodifferentiation was also investigated. The overall diastereoselection of the process was again controlled by the strong external influence of the catalyst.     

Organocatalyst-mediated enantioselective intramolecular aldol reaction featuring the rare combination of aldehyde as nucleophile and ketone as electrophile

The trifluoroacetic acid salt of 2-(pyrrolidinylmethyl)pyrrolidine was found to be an effective organocatalyst of an asymmetric intramolecular aldol reaction, affording bicyclo[4.3.0]nonane derivatives with a high enantioselectivity, in which the rare combination of aldehyde as a nucleophile and ketone as an electrophile was realized.     

Elongation of β-hydroxyenones by cross-metathesis

Enantioenriched aldol products derived from enones are notoriously difficult to prepare due to their sensitivity to retro-aldolisation, elimination and the requirement of a large excess of the enone donor for their preparation. However, some success has been obtained for the preparation of aldol products derived from methylvinylketone and pentenone using zinc-dinuclear catalysts or catalytic antibodies. Herein, we describe how simple first-generation hydroxyenones can be easily elongated by alkene exchange with structurally diverse olefinic partners in the presence of Ru-based metathesis catalysts allowing for the preparation of aldol products difficult to access by direct aldolisation. The data suggest that even though unprotected aldols are suitable for these cross-metathesis reactions, silyl-protected β-hydroxyenones generally afforded the desired elongated products in much higher chemical yields.     

Investigation of a novel diamine based chiral auxiliary in the asymmetric alkylation of ketones

A novel chiral auxiliary containing a pyrrolidine ring has been utilised in the preparation of various chiral ketones with good to excellent enantioselectivities (up to 92%). It has been successfully employed in aldol and Michael reactions giving moderate to high selectivity.     

Organocatalyzed Aldol Reaction between Pyridine‐2‐carbaldehydes and α‐Ketoacids: A Straightforward Route towards Indolizidines and Isotetronic Acids

Enantioselective aldol reactions between substituted pyridine carbaldehydes and α‐ketoacids were shown to provide isotetronic acids or their corresponding pyridinium salts, depending on the nature of the substituents on the pyridine ring. The pyridinium salts were generated through nucleophilic attack of the pyridine nitrogen atom onto the reactive keto functional group. Moderate‐to‐good yields of both compounds were typically obtained and high levels of enantioselectivity were observed by using benzimidazole pyrrolidine I as a catalyst. Hydrogenation of the resulting pyridinium salts led to new indolizidines with high ee values and diastereocontrol. X‐ray diffraction studies allowed the determination of the relative configuration of the products. Finally, DFT calculations were performed to rationalize the divergent pathway as a function of the pyridine substituents.     

Synthesis of Chiral Benzimidazole‐Pyrrolidine Derivatives and their Application in Organocatalytic Aldol and Michael Addition Reactions

An efficient and mild approach for the synthesis of pyrrolidine‐benzimidazoles has been reported. They were further employed for the aldol and Michael addition reactions to afford the corresponding products with good yields and moderate enantioselectivities.     

Electron deficiency of aldehydes controls the pyrrolidine catalyzed direct cross-aldol reaction of aromatic/heterocyclic aldehydes and ketones in water

A synthetically useful pyrrolidine catalyzed direct cross-aldol reaction of aromatic/heterocyclic aldehydes with ketones in water affords the aldol addition product in up to 93% yield. Electrophilicity of the aldehydes controls the course of the reaction.     

Application of Polyamines and Amino Acid Derivatives Based on 2-Azabicycloalkane Backbone in Enantioselective Aldol Reaction

Carbon–carbon bond forming reactions, such as aldol reaction and condensation, belong to extremely desired transformations as manifested by >25,000 entries in SciFinder. Their stereoselective variant requires the use of an appropriate catalyst with a strictly defined structure. Hence, chiral 2-azabicycloalkane-based catalysts were designed, synthesized and tested in a stereoselective aldol reaction between cyclic/acyclic ketone and p-nitrobenzaldehyde both in organic and aqueous media. Among catalysts containing a chiral bicyclic backbone, amide based on 2-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octane and pyrrolidine units showed the best catalytic activity and afforded aldol product in excellent chemical yields (up to 95%) and good diastereo- and enantioselectivity (dr 22:78, ee up to 63%).     

Highly enantioselective aldol reactions catalyzed by a recyclable fluorous (S) pyrrolidine sulfonamide on water

Fluorous (S) pyrrolidine sulfonamide serves as an efficient promoter for highly enantioselective aldol reactions of ketones and aldehydes with aromatic aldehydes on water. A notable feature of the organocatalyst is that it can be recovered from the reaction mixtures by simple fluorous solid-phase extraction and subsequently reused (up to seven cycles) without a significant loss of catalytic activity and stereoselectivity.     

An Asymmetric Pathway to Dendrobine by a Transition‐Metal‐Catalyzed Cascade Process

An asymmetric pathway to the caged tetracyclic pyrrolidine alkaloid, dendrobine, is reported. The successful synthetic strategy features a one‐pot, sequential palladium‐catalyzed enyne cycloisomerization and rhodium‐catalyzed diene‐assisted pyrrolidine formation by allylic CH activation. The developed transition‐metal‐catalyzed cascade process permits rapid access to the dendrobine core structure and circumvents the handling of labile intermediates. An intramolecular aldol condensation under carefully defined reaction conditions takes place with a concomitant detosylation, followed by reductive amine methylation, to afford a late‐stage intermediate (previously identified by several prior dendrobine syntheses) in only 10 synthetic steps overall.     

Asymmetric synthesis of 5-(1-hydroxyalkyl)-5-methyl-5H-furan-2-ones

The reactivity of 5-methyl-4-(pyrrolidin-1-yl)-5H-furan-2-one with aldehydes and with acyl chlorides followed by reduction was studied. The aldol condensation gave predominantly the anti aldol product when the acylation-reduction sequence led exclusively to the syn product. The use of a chiral pyrrolidine, (S)-2-methoxymethylpyrrolidine (SMP), allowed the synthesis of enantio-enriched compounds, the acylation-reduction leading to the (R,R) addition product.     

AZT-prolinamide: the nucleoside derived pyrrolidine catalysts for asymmetric aldol reactions using water as solvent

New pyrrolidine catalysts based on a nucleoside and proline, AZT-prolinamides, were synthesized and successfully employed for the enantioselective direct aldol reaction of aldehydes with ketones. These catalysts proved to be effective in promoting the reaction, in additive free water media with 15 mol % loading. The products, β-hydroxy carbonyl compounds were obtained in high yields and stereoselectivities.     

Diastereoselectivities realized in the amino acid catalyzed aldol cyclizations of triketo acetonides of differing ring size

A study designed to assess the diastereoselectivity of the intramolecular aldol reaction of two differently sized monocyclic 1,3-diketones bearing a chiral, oxygenated side chain has been undertaken. The cyclizations were brought about under catalysis by pyrrolidine, a series of D- and L-amino acids including proline, and several proline derivatives. The levels of selectivity were found to be consistently higher with the six-membered ring system than its cycloheptane counterpart.     

Direct, pyrrolidine sulfonamide promoted enantioselective aldol reactions of α,α-dialkyl aldehydes: synthesis of quaternary carbon-containing β-hydroxy carbonyl compounds

A procedure has been developed for direct, asymmetric aldol reactions of α,α-dialkyl aldehydes with aromatic aldehydes, which produces quaternary carbon-containing β-hydroxy carbonyl compounds. The processes, promoted by the organocatalyst (S) pyrrolidine sulfonamide, take place in high yields with exceptionally high levels of enantioselectivities.     

Dual mechanism of zinc-proline catalyzed aldol reactions in water

The aldol reaction of acetone with aldehydes in aqueous medium under catalysis by zinc-proline (Zn(L-Pro)2) and secondary amines such as proline, (2S,4R)-4-hydroxyproline (Hyp) and (S)-(+)-1-(2-pyrrolidinomethyl)pyrrolidine (PMP) is shown to proceed by an enamine mechanism, as evidenced by reductive trapping of the iminium intermediate, while the aldol reaction of dihydroxyacetone (DHA) under catalysis by zinc-proline and by general bases such as N-methylmorpholine (NMM) is shown to occur under rate-limiting deprotonation of the alpha-carbon and formation of an enolate intermediate.