Application of D‐chiro‐Inositol as a Chiral Template for the Diels?Alder Reaction

The Diels? Alder reaction can reliably provide the expected endo‐product in the presence of secondary orbital overlap. It can be considerably more difficult to access a single enantiomer of the exo‐product. In this paper, a D ‐chiro‐inositol derivative is used as a chiral tether to facilitate the regio‐, diastereo‐, and enatioselective cycloaddition between cinnamic acid and hexa‐3,5‐dienoic acid. The Diels? Alder reaction between these two substrates, or their respective esters, does not occur under thermal conditions. Because of the ease of removal of the chiral tether from the resulting cyclohexene, this approach could provide a viable technique to access otherwise unavailable systems.     

Synthesis and Characterization of Benzimidazolium Salts as Novel Ionic Liquids and their Catalytic Behavior in the Reaction of Alkylation

A new series of ionic liquids have been prepared containing benzimidazolium cation (abbreviated as Bim). These salts were characterized by DSC, NMR, elemental analysis and thermogravimetric analysis. They showed different properties compared to imidazolium cation due to the introduction of benzene ring. The alkylation of benzene/diphenyl ether with 1-dodecene was carded in C4eBimBr-AlCl3 ionic liquids showing high catalytic activity when the mole ratio of C4eBimB:AlCl3 was 1:2.     

The Morita?Baylis?Hillman Reaction of Chiral Highly Oxygenated Cyclopent‐2‐enones

The Morita? Baylis? Hillman (MBH) reactions of (4S,5R,7R,8R)‐ and (4R,5R,7R,8R)‐4‐hydroxy‐7,8‐dimethoxy‐7,8‐dimethyl‐6,9‐dioxaspiro[4.5]dec‐2‐en‐1‐ones ( 2 and 3 , resp.) with aldehydes using various catalysts were studied. A combination of Bu₃P/phenol in THF was found being optimum conditions giving the corresponding MBH adducts with high diastereoisomeric ratios. After separation, each stereomerically pure isomer of the MBH adducts was subjected to hydrolysis employing 1% aq. CF₃COOH (TFA) in a water bath of an ultrasonic cleaner to afford the corresponding polyhydroxylated cyclopentenones in good yields.     

Tuned C?H Functionalization to Construct Aza‐Podophyllotoxin/Aza‐Conidendrin Derivatives by Means of Domino Cyclization

An efficient domino cyclization method for the construction of aza‐podophyllotoxin/aza‐conidendrin derivatives has been established. Reactions of different dienes with aryl halides in the presence of a palladium catalytic system produced different kinds of podophyllotoxin derivatives through a highly regioselective C? H functionalization. Treatment of dienes with aryl halides that have electron‐withdrawing substituents on the phenyl ring created aza‐podophyllotoxin derivatives by means of the functionalization of the C? H bonds ortho to the C? halide bonds of the incoming aryl halides. The reaction of dienes with 1‐iodobenzene or aryl halides that incorporate electron‐donating groups produced aza‐conidendrin derivatives by means of the functionalization of both sp³ C? H and sp² C? H bonds. The regioselective C? H functionalization for the formation of different pseudo‐podophyllotoxin/‐conidendrin derivatives is proven by analyses of the ¹H NMR spectra of the products and selective X‐ray analyses of the structures of the products. Thus, the palladium‐catalyzed domino cyclization of 1,6‐dienes for the preparation of aza‐podophyllotoxin/aza‐conidendrin derivatives can be controlled by selectively controlling the C? H functionalization.     

Isosteviol?Proline Conjugates as Highly Efficient Amphiphilic Organocatalysts for Asymmetric Three‐Component Mannich Reactions in the Presence of Water

In this work, six isosteviol? amino acid conjugates were designed and synthesized through simple condensation on a large scale without protecting group (Scheme). These amphiphilic organocatalysts mediated asymmetric three‐component Mannich reactions of cyclohexanone and anilines with aromatic aldehydes in the presence of H₂O. Meanwhile, the isosteviol? proline conjugate 3b has been established as a highly efficient catalyst (Table 1), and afforded syn‐Mannich products with excellent diastereoselectivities (syn/anti up to 98 : 2) and enantioselectivities (up to >99% ee; Table 3). The transition state of the reaction in the presence of H₂O is proposed (Fig. 2).     

Temporary Intramolecular Generation of Pyridine Carbenes in Metal‐Free Three‐Component C?H Bond Functionalisation/Aryl‐Transfer Reactions

Nucleophilic addition of pyridines to benzyne generates zwitterionic adducts that evolve by a rapid intramolecular proton shift to produce the corresponding pyridine carbenes, N‐phenyl pyrid‐2‐ylidenes. In the presence of electrophilic ketones (isatin derivatives), the pyridylidenes can further react by an original bis‐arylation reaction of the carbonyl compounds involving a formal pyridine C? H bond functionalisation. The overall transformation is an unprecedented three‐component reaction featuring a carbene intermediate. The mechanism of this transformation was examined in detail by using both experimental and theoretical approaches. It was found that the generation of N‐phenyl pyrid‐2‐ylidene from pyridine and benzyne is energetically favoured, and that the corresponding carbene dimer can also form easily. Under the three‐component reaction conditions, the pyridylidene preferentially adds to the ketone group of the isatin derivative to produce a zwitterionic adduct amenable to an intramolecular aryl transfer reaction by a concerted nucleophilic aromatic substitution. This peculiar reactivity for a carbene was compared to possibly competitive known reactions of stable carbenes with carbonyl compounds, and the reaction was found to be under thermodynamic control. The reported method of generation of N‐phenyl pyrid‐2‐ylidenes and their reactivity with carbonyl compounds unlock new perspectives in organic synthesis.     

Theoretical Studies of the Asymmetric Binary‐Acid‐Catalyzed tert‐Aminocyclization Reaction: Origins of the C?H Activation and Stereoselectivity

A mechanistic study of the tert‐aminocyclization reaction was performed by using DFT calculations and labeling experiments. The results showed that the reaction proceeded through a rate‐limiting‐, stereospecific‐, and suprafacial 1,5‐H‐transfer pathway, followed by a barrier‐less C? C bond formation. The mode of stereocontrol for facial selection could be ruled out owing to the high activation energy of C? N bond rotation. The intrinsic feature of this Lewis acid activation was found to be the activation of the LUMO, as well as an intermediate‐stabilization effect. The catalytically active species was believed to be a 1:1 complex of phosphoric acid and MgCl₂, which was stabilized by a H???Cl hydrogen bond. The chiral catalytic complex selectively recognizes and activates one of the two helical conformations of substrate A , required for 1,5‐suprafacial H‐transfer, which dictates the stereoselectivity of the forming products.     

Perfluorinated Bis(dihydrooxazole) Complexes Immobilized on Fluorous Reversed‐Phase Silica Gel as Recyclable Catalysts for Enantioselective Diels?Alder Reactions

The three different perfluoroalkyl‐tagged bis(dihydrooxazole)copper complexes 19 – 21 were synthesized and immobilized noncovalently on fluorous reversed‐phase silica gel (FRPSG) by fluorous? fluorous interactions (Schemes 2 and 3). These supported catalysts were successfully applied to asymmetric Diels? Alder reactions in H₂O and in CH₂Cl₂ (Scheme 4). Besides high conversion of the dienophile, we observed enantiomer excesses of up to 88% in H₂O and 97% in CH₂Cl₂, and we were able to recover and re‐use these catalytic systems several times. Despite the relatively high catalyst loading, the leaching of copper was remarkably low ranging from 2.4 to 5.9 ppm.