Highly enantioselective allylation of alpha-ketoesters catalyzed by N,N'-dioxide-In(III) complexes

An efficient asymmetric allylation of alpha-ketoesters was catalyzed by the N,N'-dioxide-In(III) complex in excellent yields (up to 99%) and high enantioselectivities (up to 94% ee) for a variety of substrates under mild reaction conditions. On the basis of experimental results, a possible catalytic cycle including a transition state has been proposed to explain the origin of the reactivity and asymmetric inductivity, and a bifunctional catalysis was described with Lewis base N-oxide activating tetraallylstannane and Lewis acid indium activating alpha-ketoester.     

Catalyst development for organocatalytic hydrosilylation of aromatic ketones and ketimines

A new family of Lewis basic 2-pyridyl oxazolines have been developed, which can act as efficient organocatalysts for the enantioselective reduction of prochiral aromatic ketones and ketimines with trichlorosilane, a readily available and inexpensive reagent. 1-Isoquinolyl oxazoline, derived from mandelic acid, was identified as the most efficient catalyst of the series, capable of delivering high enantioselectivities in the reduction of both ketones (up to 94% ee) and ketimines (up to 89% ee).     

Asymmetric Hydrogenation of Ketones and Enones with Chiral Lewis Base Derived Frustrated Lewis Pairs

The concept of frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs) has been widely applied in various research areas, and metal‐free hydrogenation undoubtedly belongs to the most significant and successful ones. In the past decade, great efforts have been devoted to the synthesis of chiral boron Lewis acids. In a sharp contrast, chiral Lewis base derived FLPs have rarely been disclosed for the asymmetric hydrogenation. In this work, a novel type of chiral FLP was developed by simple combination of chiral oxazoline Lewis bases with achiral boron Lewis acids, thus providing a promising new direction for the development of chiral FLPs in the future. These chiral FLPs proved to be highly effective for the asymmetric hydrogenation of ketones, enones, and chromones, giving the corresponding products in high yields with up to 95 % ee. Mechanistic studies suggest that the hydrogen transfer to simple ketones likely proceeds in a concerted manner.     

Highly active chiral phosphoramide-Zn(II) complexes as conjugate acid-base catalysts for enantioselective organozinc addition to ketones

A highly efficient enantioselective organozinc (R2Zn) addition to ketones catalyzed by chiral phosphoramide-Zn(II) complexes (1-10 mol %) has been developed. These complexes serve as conjugate Lewis acid-Lewis base catalysts. Chiral phosphoramides are derived from an inexpensive natural amino acid (i.e., L-valine). From a variety of nonactivated aromatic and aliphatic ketones, the corresponding optically active tertiary alcohols were obtained in high yields with high enantioselectivities (up to 98% ee) under the mild reaction conditions.     

Multifunctional asymmetric catalysis

Two types of general and practical enantioselective catalysts, namely, bimetallic complexes and Lewis acid-Lewis base bifunctional catalysts were developed based on the concept of multifunctional catalysis. In the first part of this review, the first example of a catalytic enatioselective nitro-Mannich reaction as well as a direct catalytic enantioselective aldol reaction of 2-hydroxyacetophenone using bimetallic complexes is discussed. The new complex, composed of ytterbium, potassium, and BINOL in a ratio of 1:1:3, promoted the nitro-Mannich reaction of nitromethane with up to 91% ee. On the other hand, second generation ALB catalyzed an enantioselective and diastereoselective nitro-Mannich reaction of nitroalkanes in up to 83% ee with a diastereomeric ratio up to 7:1. Moreover, the reaction of aldehydes with 2-hydroxyacetophenone in the presence of LLB, KHMDS, and H2O selectively gave the corresponding anti-alpha,beta-dihydroxy ketones in up to 95% ee and, in the presence of the catalyst prepared from linked-BINOL and 2 eq of Et2Zn, selectively afforded the syn-alpha,beta-dihydroxy ketones in up to 86% ee. In the second part, the development of new catalysts displaying a Lewis acidity and a Lewis basicity is described. The Lewis acid of the catalyst activates aldehydes, imines, acyl quinoliniums, and ketones. At the same time, the Lewis base activates the nucleophile (TMSCN). Catalysts of this type produced a highly enantioselective cyanation of these electrophiles. Application of the catalytic enantioselective cyanosilylation of aldehydes to a total synthesis of epothilones is also described.     

Silicon-based Lewis acid assisted cinchona alkaloid catalysis: highly enantioselective aza-Michael reaction under solvent-free conditions

The study showed that a combination of an achiral silicon-based Lewis acid and chiral Lewis base, such as iodotrimethylsilane (TMSI) and cinchonine, generated a highly enantioselective catalyst system under solvent-free conditions which gave aromatic β-amino ketones with up to >99% ee. Mechanistic studies demonstrate the enhanced asymmetric induction may be due to the combined and competitive activation of a carbonyl moiety of chalcone with cinchonine and the silicon-based Lewis acid in the aza-Michael reaction.     

Enantioselective cyanosilylation of ketones catalyzed by Mn(salen)/Ph3PO

TMSCN asymmetrically adds to a variety of ketones by catalysis with 1/Ph₃PO. This is a double activation where 1 acts as a Lewis acid and Ph₃PO as a Lewis base. Various ketones were subjected to the enantioselective addition to give up to 85% ee.     

Enantioselective cyanosilylation of ketones by a catalytic double-activation method with an aluminium complex and an N-oxide

Double-activation catalysis promises high catalytic efficiency in the enantioselective cyanosilylation of ketones through the combined use of a Lewis acid and a Lewis base. Catalyst systems composed of a chiral salen-Al complex and an N-oxide have high catalytic turnovers (200 for aromatic ketones, 1000 for aliphatic ones). With these catalysts, a wide range of aliphatic and aromatic ketones were converted under mild conditions into tertiary cyanohydrin O-TMS ethers in excellent yields and with high enantioselectivities (94% ee for aromatic ketones, 90% ee for aliphatic ones). Preliminary mechanistic studies revealed that the salen-Al complex played the role of a Lewis acid to activate the ketone and the N-oxide that of a Lewis base to activate TMSCN; that is, double activation.     

Lewis Base Organocatalyzed Enantioselective Hydrosilylation of α-Keto Ketimines

A chiral Lewis base organocatalyzed enantioselective hydrosilylation ofa-keto ketimines was investigated.The reactions afforded various enantioenriched a-amino ketones with good yields（up to 95％） in moderate to good enantioselectivities（up to 98％ e.e.）.Furthermore,one of the products was reduced to a chiral 1,2-amino alcohol.Following cyclization of it with triphosgene generated a cannabinoid receptor 1 （CB 1） inhibitor with good diastereoselectivity.     

Asymmetric addition of trimethylsilyl cyanide to ketones catalyzed by Al(salen)/triphenylphosphine oxide

Trimethylsilyl cyanide asymmetrically adds to various ketones by catalysis of 1/triphenylphosphine oxide. This is a double activation where 1 acts as Lewis acid and Ph₃PO Lewis base. Various ketones were subjected to the enantioselective addition so as to give up to 92% ee and >90% yield.     

Asymmetric Michael Addition of Ketones to Alkylidene Malonates and Allylidene Malonates via Enamine-Metal Lewis Acid Bifunctional Catalysis

Novel enamine-metal Lewis acid bifunctional catalysts were successfully applied to the asymmetric Michael addition of ketones to alkylidene malonates, offering excellent stereoselectivity (up to >99% ee and >99:1 dr). The asymmetric Michael addition of ketones to allylidene malonates was also achieved.     

Biheteroaromatic diphosphine oxides-catalyzed stereoselective direct aldol reactions

A highly stereoselective direct aldol condensation of ketones to aromatic aldehydes was realized; the trichlorosilyl enolether generated in situ in the presence of tetrachlorosilane is activated by catalytic amounts of an enantiomerically pure biheteroaromatic phosphine oxide to react with aldehydes, coordinated as well as activated by the chiral cationic hypervalent silicon species. This Lewis acid-mediated Lewis base-catalyzed transformation allowed, starting from two carbonyl compounds, to directly synthesize β-hydroxy ketones generally with high anti stereoselectivity and up to 93% ee for the anti isomer.     

Scope and Mechanism on Iridium‐f‐Amphamide Catalyzed Asymmetric Hydrogenation of Ketones

A series of novel and easily accessed ferrocene‐based amino‐phosphine‐sulfonamide (f‐Amphamide) ligands have been developed and applied in Ir‐catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of aryl ketones, affording the corresponding chiral secondary alcohols with excellent results (up to >99% conversion, >99% ee and TON up to 200 000). DFT calculations suggest an activating model involving an alkali cation Li⁺.     

Enantioselective reduction of α-substituted ketones mediated by the boronate ester TarB-NO2

A facile and mild reduction procedure is reported for the preparation of chiral secondary alcohols prepared from α-substituted ketones using sodium borohydride and the chiral boronate ester (l)-TarB-NO₂. Direct reduction of substituted ketones bearing Lewis basic heteroatoms generally provided secondary alcohols of only modest enantiomeric excess likely due to either competition between the target carbonyl and the functionalized sidechains at the Lewis acidic boron atom in TarB-NO₂ or the added steric bulk of the α-sidechain. As an alternative method, these substrates were synthesized using TarB-NO₂ via a two-step procedure involving the reduction of an α-halo ketone to a chiral terminal epoxide, followed by regioselective/regiospecific epoxide opening by various nucleophiles. This procedure provides access to a variety of functionalized secondary alcohols including β-hydroxy ethers, thioethers, nitriles, and amines with enantiomeric excesses of 94% and yields up to 98%.     

Sequential one-pot InBr(3)-catalyzed 1,4- then 1,2-nucleophilic addition to enones

Low sensitivity toward traces of moisture and high tolerance of different functional groups make indium tribromide suitable for carrying out multistep synthetic sequences. In particular, we have realized a 1,4-conjugated addition of indoles/thiols to alpha,beta-unsaturated ketones mediated by a catalytic amount (10 mol %) of InBr(3) obtaining the desired beta-substituted ketones in good yields. The Lewis acidity of indium salts was not affected by coordinating and acid nucleophiles; therefore, the subsequent catalytic 1,2-addition of Me(3)SiCN to carbonyl compounds can be performed in one pot. With the optimized atom-efficient protocol, several polyfunctionalized alpha-silyloxy cyanohydrins were synthesized in good to excellent yields (up to 97%) and a notable level of simple 1,3-diastereoselection (up to 84:16) was recorded in the case of 2-cyclohexen-1-one 2c.     

Schiff-base Amino Alcohol-zinc Complex for Enantioselective Addition of Phenylacetylene to Aromatic Ketones

A complete study of the asymmetric addition of phenylacetylene to ketones catalyzed by Schiff-base amino alcohol-Zn complex is reported in this article. The Schiff-base amino alcohols were easily prepared from amino acids in three steps. When the amount of ligand was 1%（molar fraction）, an e.e. value up to 94% was obtained. A series of practical chiral ligands were applied in the enantioselective addition of phenylacetylene to ketones without adding another stronger Lewis acid except zinc.     

A novel pyrrolidine imide catalyzed direct formation of alpha,beta-unsaturated ketones from unmodified ketones and aldehydes

A method for direct, stereoselective preparation of (E)-alpha,beta-unsaturated ketones from ketones and aldehydes, promoted by a novel pyrrolidine imide organocatalyst, has been developed in moderate to high yields. Unlike the Claisen-Schmidt condensation and Lewis acid catalyzed tandem aldol-dehydration processes, this method provides mild reaction conditions to access alpha,beta-unsaturated ketones from simple, unmodified ketones. [reaction: see text]     

Rearrangement of epoxynitriles: a convenient homologation of acyclic and cyclic ketones to carboxylic acids

A convenient two-step homologation of both aliphatic and aromatic ketones to the corresponding carboxylic acid has been developed. First ketones were converted to epoxynitriles with the Darzens reaction. Second, a Lewis acid mediated rearrangement of these epoxynitriles with lithium bromide was achieved to give homologated secondary alkanoic acids (as well as aryl-alkanoic) in good yields. The mechanism and the scope of the rearrangement reaction were investigated. This strategy constitutes a two-step homologation of ketones to secondary carboxylic acids.     

Indium-catalyzed homo-Nazarov cyclizations of alkenyl cyclopropyl ketones

Herein, an efficient Lewis acid catalyzed protocol for the homo-Nazarov cyclizations of alkenyl cyclopropyl ketones is reported. Alkenes bearing β-hydrogens (or silyl groups) provide 1.5:1 mixtures of methylene cyclohexenols and cyclohexenones. When no β-hydrogens (or silyl groups) are present, only cyclohexenones are observed. Products are rapidly formed in good to high yields (up to 93%) under mild conditions and could be readily derivatized.     

Asymmetric Lewis acid-catalyzed Diels-Alder reactions of alpha,beta-unsaturated ketones and alpha,beta-unsaturated acid chlorides

[reaction: see text] Conformational analysis, van der Waals attractions, and transition structure calculations are combined to design an asymmetric Lewis acid-catalyzed Diels-Alder reaction for simple acyclic alpha,beta-unsaturated ketones and alpha,beta-unsaturated acid chlorides, giving up to 83 and 92% ee, respectively. The two-point-binding chiral recognition mechanism, Lewis acid-Lewis base coordination with boron and a van der Waals attraction with the naphthyl group, uses the inherent enone unit of simple alpha,beta-unsaturated carbonyl compounds, ending the need for auxiliary oxygen binding sites on the dienophile.