Enantioselective Synthesis of Isoxazolines Enabled by Palladium‐Catalyzed Carboetherification of Alkenyl Oximes

Reported here is a highly efficient Pd/Xiang‐Phos catalyzed enantioselective carboetherification of alkenyl oximes with either aryl or alkenyl halides, delivering various chiral 3,5‐disubstituted and 3,5,5‐trisubstituted isoxazolines in good yields with up to 97 % ee. The sterically bulky and electron‐rich (S,Rs)‐ NMe‐X2 ligand is responsible for the excellent reactivities and enantioselectivities. The salient features of this transformation include mild reaction conditions, general substrate scope, good functional‐group tolerance, good yields, high enantioselectivities, easy scale‐up, and application in the late‐stage modification of bioactive compounds. The obtained products can be readily transformed into useful chiral 1,3‐aminoalcohols.     

Asymmetric Synthesis of 2,3‐Disubstituted Cyclic Ketones by Enantioselective Conjugate Radical Additions

Enantioselective conjugate radical addition to 2‐acyloxymethyl cycloalkenones proceeds in high yield with outstanding diastereoselectivity and excellent enantioselectivity using chiral salen Lewis acids. The process provides access to 2,3‐disubstituted cycloalkanones, a structural motif present in natural products.     

Synthesis of α‐Stereogenic Amides and Ketones by Enantioselective Conjugate Addition of 1,4‐Dicarbonyl But‐2‐enes

Constructing α‐stereogenic amides and ketones : The highly regioselective and enantioselective conjugate addition of 1,3‐dicarbonyl compounds to 1,4‐dicarbonyl but‐2‐enes has been developed with the chiral bicyclic guanidine as catalyst (ee values up to 97 %; see scheme).

     

Racemic Vinylallenes in Catalytic Enantioselective Multicomponent Processes: Rapid Generation of Complexity through 1,6‐Conjugate Additions

Racemic vinylallenes are shown to be effective substrates for catalytic multicomponent diastereo‐ and enantioselective 1,6‐conjugate addition of multifunctional allyl moieties to easily accessible α,β,γ,δ‐unsaturated diesters. Reactions may be catalyzed by 5.0 mol % of a readily accessible NHC‐Cu complex at ambient temperature, and other than a vinylallene, involve B₂(pin)₂ and an α,β,γ,δ‐unsaturated diester. A variety of vinylallenes were converted to products bearing a Z‐trisubstituted alkenyl‐B(pin) moiety, a vinyl group, a β,γ‐unsaturated diester unit, and vicinal stereogenic centers in up to 67 % yield, 87:13 Z/E ratio, >98:2 d.r., and 98:2 e.r. Chemoselective modifications involving the alkenyl‐B(pin), the vinyl, or the 1,2‐disubstituted olefin moieties were carried out to demonstrate versatility and utility. Stereochemical models, based on mechanistic and DFT studies, demonstrate the dynamic behavior of intermediated Cu‐allyl species and account for various selectivity profiles.     

Enantioselective Palladium(0)‐Catalyzed Nazarov‐Type Cyclization

A Pd⁰‐catalyzed asymmetric Nazarov‐type cyclization is described. The optimized ligand for the reaction incorporates a weakly coordinating pyridine ring into a TADDOL‐derived phosphoramidite (TADDOL=α,α,α,α‐tetraaryl‐1,3‐dioxolane‐4,5‐dimethanol). The reaction leads to the formation of cyclopentenones as single diastereoisomers that incorporate two contiguous asymmetric centers, one tertiary and one an all‐carbon‐atom quaternary stereocenter, in high yield and optical purity. It is noteworthy that the reaction does not require that substrates should be activated by aryl substituents.     

tert‐Butyldimethylsilyl‐Directed Highly Enantioselective Approach to Axially Chiral α‐Allenols

A highly efficient and enantioselective synthesis of axially chiral α‐allenols was realized in practical yields with 96–99 % ee or de from TBS‐protected propargylic alcohols, aldehydes, and a commercially available, inexpensive, chiral, secondary amine (S)‐α,α‐diphenylprolinol or its enantiomer followed by desilylation. The easily removable TBS group not only acts as a protecting group, but also as a possible sterically directing group for the excellent enantioselectivity and in situ prevention of possible allene racemization.     

Highly Diastereo‐ and Enantioselective Silver‐Catalyzed Double [3+2] Cyclization of α‐Imino Esters with Isocyanoacetate

Presented herein is a new complexity‐generating method in which both functionalities of α‐imino esters undergo stereoselective cyclization with isocyanoacetates to produce directly linked oxazole‐imidazolines, which can be transformed into highly functionalized α,β‐diamino esters and imidazolinium salts in high diastereo‐ and enantiopurity.     

Expanding the Scope of Enantioselective FerroPHANE‐Promoted [3+2] Annulations with α,β‐Unsaturated Ketones

The planar chiral 2‐phospha[3]ferrocenophane I has been shown to be the first efficient nucleophilic organocatalyst for the enantioselective synthesis of cyclopentenylphosphonates, through [3+2] cyclizations between diethyl allenylphosphonate and α,β‐unsaturated ketones. The same catalyst has also been applied to the highly enantioselective [3+2] cyclizations of allenic esters with dibenzylideneacetone and analogous bis‐enones, leading to functionalised cyclopentenes with either monocyclic or spirocyclic structures (ee 84–95 %). It has been shown that the residual enone functions in the resulting cyclopentenes can be involved in subsequent cyclization steps to afford unprecedented C₂‐symmetric bis‐cyclopentenylketones. In order to provide insight into the behaviour of FerroPHANE I as a chiral catalyst in [3+2] cyclisations, the energetically most favoured isomers of the key phosphine‐allene adduct have been calculated by DFT methods. Factors likely to control the chiral induction process are highlighted.     

Enantioselective Synthesis of Isoxazolines Enabled by Palladium-Catalyzed Carboetherification of Alkenyl Oximes

Reported here is a highly efficient Pd/Xiang-Phos catalyzed enantioselective carboetherification of alkenyl oximes with either aryl or alkenyl halides, delivering various chiral 3,5-disubstituted and 3,5,5-trisubstituted isoxazolines in good yields with up to 97 % ee. The sterically bulky and electron-rich (S,Rs)- NMe-X2 ligand is responsible for the excellent reactivities and enantioselectivities. The salient features of this transformation include mild reaction conditions, general substrate scope, good functional-group tolerance, good yields, high enantioselectivities, easy scale-up, and application in the late-stage modification of bioactive compounds. The obtained products can be readily transformed into useful chiral 1,3-aminoalcohols.     

Copper Nitrate Mediated Regioselective [2+2+1] Cyclization of Alkynes with Alkenes: A Cascade Approach to Δ2‐Isoxazolines

An efficient method for the regioselective synthesis of pharmacologically relevant polysubstituted Δ²‐isoxazolines is based on the copper‐mediated direct transformation of simple terminal alkynes and alkenes. The overall process involves the formation of four chemical bonds with inexpensive and readily available copper nitrate trihydrate as a novel precursor of nitrile oxides. The reaction can be easily handled and proceeds under mild conditions.     

Direct Synthesis of Chiral 3‐Arylsuccinimides by Rhodium‐Catalyzed Enantioselective Conjugate Addition of Arylboronic Acids to Maleimides

Chiral rhodium catalysts comprising 2,5‐diaryl‐ substituted bicyclo[2.2.1]diene ligands L1 – L10 were utilized in the enantioselective 1,4‐addition reaction of arylboronic acids to N‐substituted maleimides. In the presence of 2.5 mol % of Rh^I/ L2 , enantioenriched conjugate addition adducts were isolated in 72–99 % yields with 86–98 % ee. This protocol offers a convenient method to access a variety of 3‐arylsuccinimides in a highly enantioselective manner. Maleimides with readily cleavable N‐protecting groups were tolerated enabling the synthesis of useful synthetic intermediates. Pyrrolidine 4 , a biologically active compound, and pyrrolidine 5 , an ent‐precursor to an HSD‐1 inhibitor, were synthesized to demonstrate the utility of this method.     

Enantioselective Zinc/BINOL‐Catalysed Alkynylation of Aldimines Generated in Situ from α‐Amido Sulfones

Chiral nonracemic N‐Cbz‐protected propargylic amines have been prepared by the addition of terminal alkynes to imines generated in situ from α‐amido sulfones in the presence of diethylzinc and BINOL‐type ligands as catalysts. The reactions give good yields and high enantioselectivities (ee values up to 95 %) for a good number of aromatic and heteroaromatic α‐amido sulfones and alkynes.     

Chiral‐Zn(NTf2)2‐Complex‐Catalyzed Diastereo‐ and Enantioselective Direct Conjugate Addition of Arylacetonitriles to Alkylidene Malonates

Chiral N,N′‐dioxide/Zn(NTf₂)₂ complexes were demonstrated to be highly effective in the direct asymmetric conjugate addition of arylacetonitriles to alkylidene malonates under mild conditions. A wide range of substrates were tolerated to afford their corresponding products in moderate‐to‐good yields with high diastereoselectivities (82:18–>99:1 d.r.) and enantioselectivities (81–99 % ee). The reactions performed well, owing to the high Lewis acidity of the metal triflimidate and a ligand‐acceleration effect. The N,N′‐dioxide also benefited the deprotonation process as a Brønsted base. The catalytic reaction could be performed on the gram‐scale with retention of yield, diastereoselectivity, and enantioselectivity. The products that contained functional groups were ready for further manipulation. In addition, a possible catalytic model was proposed to explain the origin of the asymmetric induction.