Conformationally flexible chiral supramolecular catalysts for enantioselective Diels-Alder reactions with anomalous endo/exo selectivities

The potential of supramolecular catalysts to realize anomalous regio- and/or stereoselectivity in organic synthesis is highly attractive. To date, there have been a few examples of non-polymeric and non-covalent chiral supramolecular catalysts that induce practical enantioselectivity. In this regard, a metal-organic framework (MOF) may be one of the most important techniques for constructing conformationally rigid supramolecular catalysts. However, it is not easy to use the MOF technique to fine-tune a much more precise cage in catalysts for anomalous purposes. To establish high catalytic activity with anomalous regio- and/or stereoselectivity, in principle, an artificial cage should be conformationally flexible, like an active pocket in an enzyme with an induced-fit function. In this feature article, we focus on the anomalous endo/exo-selective Diels-Alder reaction, and overview the development of the successive catalysts including our recent highly active, conformationally flexible, and chiral supramolecular catalysts. The evolution from 'ready-made' single-molecule catalysts to 'tailor-made' supramolecular catalysts could offer not only high enantioselectivity but also high anomalous endo/exo-selectivities due to substrate-specific characteristics, as with enzymes.     

New supramolecular transition metal catalysts

The covalent connection of a catalytically active transition metal center with a water-soluble receptor (host molecule) generates a new type of supramolecular catalyst in which the features of molecular recognition, phase transfer catalysis and transition metal catalysis are combined in a single system. The first examples of this principle make use of commercially available β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) as the receptor and rhodium complexes of diphosphanes as the catalytically active center, these being covalently connected to one another via a spacer. In competitive hydrogenation of certain olefins, unusual degrees of substrate selectivity based on molecular recognition are observed, not possible by conventional transition metal catalysts. The two-phase (water/organic) hydrogenation of nitro-aromatics also is a smooth process catalyzed by these supramolecular complexes. They also constitute an unusually active catalyst system for the selective hydroformylation of higher olefins such as 1-octene in a two-phase system. Dendrimers having diphosphane moieties on the surface provide ligands for transition metals, the corresponding metal complexes (e.g., Pd) functioning as efficient catalysts which can be recycled due to their nanoscopic properties.     

Conformationally restricted linear polyurethanes from acetalized sugar‐based monomers

Linear polyurethanes based on sugar monomers having D ‐gluco, galacto, and D ‐manno configurations and their secondary hydroxyl groups protected as bicyclic acetals, have been prepared by polyaddition reaction of these diol monomers to hexamethylene diisocyanate ( HMDI ) and 4,4′‐methylene‐bis(phenyl isocyanate) ( MDI ). The new polyurethanes seem to be amorphous materials, except that obtained from 2,3:4,5‐di‐O‐methylene‐galactitol and HMDI. Weight‐average molecular weights, determined by GPC, were in the range 16,000–115,200. TGA analyses indicated that the thermal stability of these bicyclic polyurethanes is comparable to those based on the isosorbide; both the onset and the maximum rate decomposition temperatures increased significantly with respect to the polyurethanes based on acyclic sugar monomers. The presence of the acetalized alditol units in the polyurethanes also increased the T_gs as compared with their acyclic analogs. Deacetalization of the polyurethanes containing di‐O‐isopropylidene‐D ‐mannitol units yielded the polyhydroxylated polymers in good yields, without apparent degradation of the polymer chain. These hydroxylated polymers showed an enhanced hydrophilicity and degradability and lower T_gs and thermal stability than their parent acetalized polyurethanes. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012     

Conformationally restricted aza-BODIPY: highly fluorescent, stable near-infrared absorbing dyes

Novel NIR fluorescent, conformational restricted aza-dipyrromethene boron difluoride (aza-BODIPY) dyes were prepared by an efficient process. Such conformational restricted aza-BODIPY dyes possess intense absorption, strong fluorescence, high chemical and photostability. Additionally, the sharp fluorescence of non-amine containing aza-BODIPY dyes is insensitive to solvent polarity.     

On the way to chiral epoxidations with methyltrioxorhenium(VII) derived catalysts

Methyltrioxorhenium(VII) (MTO) is successfully applied as chiral epoxidation catalysts in the presence of H₂O₂ as oxidizing agent and excess chiral Lewis base ligands derived from pyrazole. Moderate enantiomeric excesses up to ca. 30% can be reached at low reaction temperatures (−30 °C), the conversions however, being quite low (<25%). The reason for this may be the fluctionality of the N-base ligand. Glycolate complexes of MTO, applied under the same conditions reach somewhat higher enantiomeric excesses (up to ca. 40%), however, again associated with low conversions (<30%). In this case the sensitivity of the catalyst to water induced ligand removal as well as to ligand exchange with other diols is the most likely reason. Nevertheless, the enantiomeric excesses reported here are among the best observed for MTO derived catalytic systems reported to date and more active and selective systems seem feasible.     

Conformationally restricted calix[8]arenes substituted at all methylene bridges

Reaction under S(N)1 conditions of the octabromocalix[8]arene derivative 2d with alcohols proceeds in nonstereoselective fashion, but all-cis octaryl derivatives are the single major products in the reaction with arenes. The incorporation of aryl substituents at the bridges rigidifies the calix[8]arene skeleton.     

Crown-ether-modified cyclic dipeptides as supramolecular chiral catalysts

With the objective to develop supramolecular catalysts for useful chemical transformations, we report here a rapid and efficient solid-phase synthesis of novel cyclic dipeptides (crown-CDPs) with a diversity of L-DOPA derived crown ether substituents and stereochemistry. We prepared and characterized 14 crown-CDPs and evaluated their efficiency as supramolecular epoxidation catalysts in a water/hexanes biphasic system. Yields increase significantly in the presence of the crown-CDPs, though enantioselectivity depends on the nature of the substituents. The results reported constitute a useful approach for chiral epoxides of interest and further illustrate the potential of cyclic peptides as supramolecular catalysts.     

A supramolecular aggregation-based constitutional dynamic network for information processing

Concepts and strategies offered by constitutional dynamic chemistry (CDC) hold great promise for designing molecular computing systems adaptive to external environments. Despite demonstrable success in storing and processing chemical information using CDC, further employment of such constitutional dynamic networks (CDNs) for processing more complex digital information has not been realized yet. Herein, we introduced a supramolecular CDN based on the aggregation of cyanine MTC (Agg-CDN), which is composed of four reversibly interconvertible constituents, i.e. monomers, dimers, J-aggregates, and H-aggregates. We demonstrated that the equilibrated Agg-CDN is reconfigurable through constituent exchange in response to well-defined chemical inputs. More importantly, the equilibrated states of the Agg-CDN are spectroscopically distinguishable because of the unique optical properties of MTC. We further tuned the Agg-CDN to at least nine unique states for transforming the chemical inputs into digital outputs, and successfully employed it for encoding and encrypting complex digital information, such as multi-pixel images.

We constructed a supramolecular cyanine MTC aggregation-based constitutional dynamic network, which can transform the chemical information into image information reversibly.     

Synthesis and supramolecular properties of conformationally restricted and flexible phospholipids

Short synthetic routes are described to produce structurally related phospholipids that are either conformationally restricted or flexible. The conformationally restricted structures have a cyclopropyl ring in the interfacial region of the phospholipid. The key synthetic step is a cyclopropanation reaction between 2(5H)-furanone and a stabilized chloroallylic phosphonate anion. The synthetic routes enable the incorporation of different polar headgroups as well as nonpolar tails at late stages in the sequence. The phosphoethanolamine derivatives 1b and 2b readily form encapsulating vesicles, however, dye leakage from vesicles composed of the restricted phospholipid 1b is significantly slower than from vesicles composed of flexible analogue 2b. Physicochemical analyses using 31P NMR, differential scanning calorimetry, fluorescence anisotropy, and Langmuir-Blodgett films suggest that the decreased permeability of membranes composed of conformationally restricted 1b is due to its ability to pack more closely in a bilayer assembly.     

Conformationally restricted (+)-cacospongionolide B analogues. Influence on secretory phospholipase A2 inhibition

A new approach to (+)-cacospongionolide was developed to access conformationally restricted variants of the natural product. The flexible aliphatic region between the decalin and side chain portion of the natural product was replaced with alkenyl and alkynyl linkers to probe the influence of structural rigidity in the inhibition of secretary phospholipase A2 (sPLA2). It was found that when the aliphatic section is replaced with a Z-olefin or an alkyne, sPLA2 inhibitory activity suffered relative to the natural product; however, an E-olefin-containing analogue led to an enhanced activity. These results suggest that preferred sPLA2 binding conformation of the natural product is similar to the geometry of the E-olefin-containing analogue.     

Conformationally restricted dipyrromethene boron difluoride (BODIPY) dyes: highly fluorescent, multicolored probes for cellular imaging

Novel fluorescent, conformationally restricted dipyrromethene boron difluoride (BODIPY) dyes have been prepared by introducing a naphthalenyl group at the meso position of the BODIPY core. These BODIPY dyes exhibit increased fluorescence quantum yields compared with dyes that have a meso-position phenyl group with internal rotation. The absorption and emission wavelengths of such conformationally restricted BODIPY dyes can be easily tuned to the near-IR range by derivatization through a condensation reaction with benzaldehyde derivatives. The two-photon absorption properties of these BODIPY dyes were also investigated and the results show that they exhibit increased two-photon excited fluorescence compared to analogue dyes that contain a phenyl group. The one- and two-photon fluorescence imaging of living cells by using selected BODIPY dyes has been successfully demonstrated.     

Amplification of chirality in dynamic supramolecular aggregates

The quest to understand the origin of chirality in biological systems has evoked an intense search for nonlinear effects in catalysis and pathways to amplify slight enantiomeric excesses in racemates to give optically pure molecules. The amplification of chirality in polymeric systems as a result of cooperative processes has been intensely investigated. Ten years ago, this effect was shown for the first time in noncovalent dynamic supramolecular systems. Since then, it has become clear that a subtle interplay of noncovalent interactions such as hydrogen-bonding, pi-pi stacking, and hydrophobic interactions is also sufficient to observe amplification of chirality in small molecules. Here we summarize the results obtained over the past decade and the general guidelines we can deduce from them. Predicting amplification of chirality is still impossible, but it appears to be a balance between different types of interactions, the formation of an intrinsically chiral object, and cooperative aggregation processes.     

Conformationally restricted 4-dimethylaminopyridine (DMAP) analogs: synthesis and evaluation of catalytic effectiveness

The syntheses of a series of conformationally restricted 4-dimethylaminopyridine (DMAP) analogs 1-3 are described. Evaluations of catalyst effectiveness demonstrated that 1 was the best catalyst for the acetylation reaction of a tertiary alcohol, while 2 and 3 were roughly comparable to DMAP. The order of effectiveness of these catalysts roughly parallels their acetylation enthalpies estimated from ab initio calculations.     

Conformationally restricted tricyclic analogues of lipophilic pyrido[2,3‐d]pyrimidine antifolates

The effect of conformational restriction of the C9‐N10 bridge on inhibitory potency and selectivity of trimetrexate against dihydrofolate reductase, was studied. Specifically three nonclassical tricyclic 1,3‐diamino‐8‐(3′,4′,5′‐trimethoxybenzyl)‐7,9‐dihydro‐pyrrolo[3,4‐c]pyrido[2,3‐d]pyrimidin‐6(5H,8H)‐one ( 4 ), 1,3‐diamino‐8‐(3′,4′,5′‐trimethoxybenzyl)‐9‐hydro‐pyrrolo[3,4‐c]pyrido[2,3‐d]pyrimidin‐6‐(8H)‐one ( 5 ) and 1,3‐diamino‐(8H)‐(3′,4′,5′‐trimethoxybenzyl)‐7,9‐dihydro‐pyrrolo[3,4‐c]pyrido[2,3‐d]pyrimidine ( 7 ) antifolates were synthesized. The tricyclic analogues 4 and 5 were obtained via the regiospecific cyclo‐condensation of the β‐keto ester 17 with 2,4,6‐triaminopyrimidine. The analogue 7 was obtained via reduction of the lactam 4 with borane in tetrahydrofuran. Compounds 4, 5 and 7 were evaluated as inhibitors of dihydrofolate reductase from Pneumocystis carinii, Toxoplasma gondii and rat liver. All three compounds were more selective than trimetrexate against Pneumocystis carinii dihydrofolate reductase and significantly more selective than trimetrexate against Toxoplasma gondii dihydrofolate reductase compared with rat liver dihydrofolate reductase.     

Novel biomimetic iron-catalysts for environmentally benign epoxidations of olefins

A new selective and easily manageable epoxidation method is presented using an inexpensive and efficient FeCl₃·6H₂O and imidazole derivatives as catalysts. Aqueous hydrogen peroxide as an environmentally benign oxidant is utilized. This novel Fe/imidazole system gives moderate to excellent yields toward aromatic mono-, di-, and tri-substituted olefins.     

Ligand-template directed assembly: an efficient approach for the supramolecular encapsulation of transition-metal catalysts

Supramolecular encapsulation of small guest molecules inside well-defined cavities of molecular capsules has witnessed broad attention because of the unusual behaviour of these systems. The molecular capsules generally consist of rigid complementary building blocks that are held together by multiple, complementary non-covalent interactions. Interestingly, it has been shown that chemical transformations can take place inside these capsules and in some examples the reaction is accelerated, while in other cases otherwise instable intermediates could be isolated in the capsulated form. Many reactions of interest require a transition-metal (TM) catalyst, and the creation of new capsules in which such catalysts are implemented within the structure is thus required for the development of resourceful type of catalyst systems for these processes. In this concept article we will discuss new strategies to arrive at such systems, with a focus on a ligand-templated approach. In this approach, multifunctional ligands are used as templates for the encapsulation process by supramolecular building blocks and concomitantly for the formation of TM complexes that are active in catalytic processes. The obtained encapsulated transition-metal catalysts show unusual reactivity and selectivity behaviour that will be discussed in detail.     

Systems membranes--combining the supramolecular and dynamic covalent polymers for gas-selective dynameric membranes

The adequate selection of components makes possible the generation of double dynameric membranes, allowing the fine constitutional modulation of the gas transport performances.     

An optimised and recoverable tartrate surrogate for sharpless asymmetric epoxidations

The tetrahydroxy diester 7d (R = ⁱPr) is almost as effective as diisopropyl tartrate in SAE reactions of (E)-allylic alcohols and can be recovered and re-used following a relatively simple work-up procedure.