Copper‐catalyzed asymmetric 1,4‐conjugate addition of dialkylzinc to enones

Asymmetric 1,4‐conjugation addition of dialkylzinc (diethylzinc and dimethylzinc) to cyclic enones, chalcone and nitroalkenes was achieved by a 25 mol% (R)‐6,6′‐Br₂‐BINOL( 1f ), 25 mol% CuSPh and 100 mol% dicyclohexylmethylamin(Cy₂NMe) catalyst system. The Cu(I) catalyst system enables the cyclic enone, chalcone and nitroalkene generality with high enantioselectivity (up to 84% ee) and isolated yield (up to 94%) under mild reaction conditions. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Enantioselective addition of dialkylzinc reagents to N-(diphenylphosphinoyl)imines catalyzed by β-aminoalcohols with the prolinol skeleton

Several β-aminoalcohols with the prolinol framework are shown to be very efficient catalysts for the enantioselective addition of dialkylzinc reagents to N-(diphenylphosphinoyl)imines. The use of 0.5 equiv of the catalyst leads to the expected addition products in good yields and with ee up to 94% in a reaction time of only 4 h at room temperature. This ee is the highest value reported so far using 0.5 equiv of an aminoalcohol as a promoter. High enantioselectivities are obtained in the addition of dialkylzincs to both aromatic and aliphatic imines. The amount of the catalyst can be reduced to 0.25 equiv with a slight decrease in the ee. A very interesting effect of the addition rate and temperature on the enantioselectivity was also observed.     

Regio- and enantioselective copper-catalyzed addition of dialkylzinc reagents to cyclic 2-alkenyl aziridines

The reactions of some organocopper reagents with cyclic 2-alkenyl aziridines were examined. The stereoselectivity of the addition reaction of dialkylzinc can be strongly influenced by the use of phosphoramidites as ligands for copper. Chiral copper complexes of 2,2′-binaphthyl-based phosphoramidites were shown to be highly effective catalysts for the regio- (S_N2′) and anti-stereoselective addition of dialkylzinc reagents to these compounds according to a kinetic resolution protocol. The corresponding new cyclic allylic amine reaction products were obtained with a good enantioselectivity (83% ee).     

Enantioselective conjugate addition nitro-Mannich reactions: solvent controlled synthesis of acyclic anti- and syn-β-nitroamines with three contiguous stereocenters

We report an enantioselective conjugate addition nitro-Mannich reaction protocol which combines dialkylzinc, aromatic nitro alkene and imine to form two C-C bonds and three contiguous stereocenters in one reaction vessel. Absolute stereochemistry was controlled from the initial 1,4-addition of dialkylzinc to aromatic nitroalkenes by known copper-chiral ligand catalysts. The choice of solvent dictated the formation of either the syn,anti or syn,syn diastereoisomers, two of the four possible diastereoisomers. The syn,syn isomer is a rare example of a syn-selective nitro-Mannich reaction. The diastereoselectivity is dependent upon the presence or not of Zn(O(2)CCF(3))(2) in the reaction mixture and empirical transition state models are proposed to account for the observed stereochemical course of the two reaction conditions. The extent of enantioselectivity and structural diversity of the process is limited by current methodology for the catalytic asymmetric addition of dialkylzincs to nitrostyrenes. The synthetically versatile products are the most complex β-nitro amines prepared using the nitro-Mannich reaction and are formed in high yield and enantioselectivity.     

N-Benzyl-l-prolinol: an efficient catalyst for the enantioselective addition of dialkylzinc reagents to N-(diphenylphosphinoyl)imines

Commercially available N-benzyl-l-prolinol has shown to be a very efficient catalyst for the enantioselective addition of dialkylzinc reagents to N-(diphenylphosphinoyl)imines. The use of 0.5 equiv of this β-aminoalcohol as a catalyst leads to the expected addition products in good yields and with ees up to 92% in a reaction time of only 4 h at room temperature. This ee is almost equal to the highest value reported so far using 0.5 equiv of an aminoalcohol as promoter, although the reaction time is much shorter in our case. The amount of the catalyst can be reduced to 0.25 equiv with a slight decrease in the ee. An interesting effect of the addition rate and temperature on the enantioselectivity has been observed.     

Multicomponent one-pot procedure for the synthesis of free alpha-chiral amines from aldehydes

[reaction: see text] The synthesis of free alpha-chiral amines by a one-pot multicomponent procedure from commercially available starting materials is described. This enantioselective reaction involves a catalytic asymmetric addition of dialkylzinc reagents to N-diphenylphosphinoylimines with use of an air-stable precatalyst complex 1. The alpha-chiral amines are prepared with a one-pot procedure from alkyl and aryl aldehydes in good yield (41-90%) and with excellent enantioselectivity (90-97% ee).     

A practical catalytic asymmetric addition of alkyl groups to ketones

Many catalysts will promote the asymmetric addition of alkylzinc reagents to aldehydes. In contrast, there are no reports of additions to ketones that are both general and highly enantioselective. We describe herein a practical catalytic asymmetric addition of ethyl groups to ketones. The catalyst is derived from reaction of camphor sulfonyl chloride and trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane. The resulting diketone is reduced with NaBH4 to give the C2-symmetric exo diastereomer. Use of this ligand with titanium tetraisopropoxide and dialkylzinc at room temperature results in enantioselective addition of the alkyl group to the ketone. The resulting tertiary alcohols are isolated with high enantiomeric excess (all cases give greater than 87% ee, except one). The reaction has been run with 37 mmol (5 g) 3-methylacetophenone and 2 mol % catalyst to afford 73% yield of the resulting tertiary alcohol with 99% ee.     

Copper-catalyzed enantioselective conjugate addition of dialkylzinc reagents to (2-pyridyl)sulfonyl imines of chalcones

[reaction: see text] The enantioselective catalytic 1,4-addition to alpha,beta-unsaturated ketimines is an unprecedented process. Herein, we document the copper-catalyzed addition of dialkylzinc reagents to (2-pyridylsulfonyl)imines of chalcones. This process occurs rapidly in the presence of a chiral phosphoramidite ligand to afford exclusively the 1,4-addition product. In the case of addition of dimethylzinc, enantioselectivities in the range 70-80% ee are obtained. The presence of the metal-coordinating 2-pyridylsulfonyl group proved to be essential for this reaction to proceed.     

A new C2-symmetric azolium compound for Cu-catalyzed asymmetric conjugate addition of R2Zn to cyclic enone

A new chiral N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligand was designed. Thus, an efficient synthetic route to C₂-symmetric bis(hydroxyamide)-functionalized benzimidazolium salts from chiral β-amino alcohols was developed. The combination of Cu(OTf)₂ and the chiral azolium compound efficiently promoted the conjugate addition reaction of cyclic enone with dialkylzinc to give the corresponding adduct in good yield. Among a series of chiral NHC proligands, the functionalized benzimidazolium chloride possessing a tert-butyl group as a stereodirecting group was found to be the best choice of ligand. Under optimized reaction conditions, an excellent enantioselectivity (96% ee) was realized by allowing 2-cyclohepten-1-one to react with Bu₂Zn at room temperature.     

Copper-catalyzed enantioselective intramolecular conjugate addition/trapping reactions: synthesis of cyclic compounds with multichiral centers

The Cu-catalyzed enantioselective conjugate addition of dialkylzinc to bis-alpha,beta-unsaturated carbonyl compounds followed by the intramolecular trapping of the zinc enolate in the presence of chiral phosphoramidite ligands was investigated. Cyclic and heterocyclic compounds with multichiral centers were formed as a mixture of two diastereomers with excellent diastereoselectivities (up to 99:1) and enantioselectivities (up to 94 % ee, ee=enantiomeric excess). The stereochemistry was determined to be trans,trans for the major products and trans,cis for the minor products. The absolute configuration of the cyclic compounds was assigned by comparison with the analogous adduct derived from trans-3-nonen-2-one and Et(2)Zn or the adduct obtained through conjugate addition of Me(2)Zn to trans-1-phenyl-non-2-en-1-one. Further transformation of these cyclic products into more complex compounds is under investigation in our laboratory.     

Solvent-free organocatalytic Michael addition of diethyl malonate to nitroalkenes: the practical synthesis of Pregabalin and γ-nitrobutyric acid derivatives

A highly enantioselective synthesis of Pregabalin 1 hydrochloride with good overall yield (44%) and enantioselectivity (98% ee) was described. The key step is an asymmetric Michael addition of equivalent of diethyl malonate and nitroalkene under solvent-free conditions using thiourea 2 as catalyst. The reaction can be applied to a variety of aromatic and aliphatic substituted nitroalkenes affording corresponding adducts in good to excellent yields (61-92%) and enantioselectivities (78-93% ee).     

Synthesis of homoallylic amines by hydrozirconation-imine addition of allenes

Hydrozirconation of allenes followed by in situ transmetalation to dialkylzinc leads to the formation of an allylic zinc species that, upon addition of aldimines to the reaction mixture, provides homoallylic amines in 64-85% yield. [reaction: see text]     

Chiral N‐Heterocyclic Carbene Ligands Bearing a Pyridine Moiety for the Copper‐Catalyzed Alkylation of N‐Sulfonylimines with Dialkylzinc Reagents

Amino acid‐derived chiral imidazolium salts, each bearing a pyridine ring, were developed as N‐heterocyclic carbene ligands. The copper‐catalyzed asymmetric alkylation of various N‐sulfonylimines with dialkylzinc reagents in the presence of these chiral imidazolium salts afforded the corresponding alkylated products with high enantioselectivity (up to 99 % ee). The addition of HMPA to the reaction mixture as a co‐solvent is critical in terms of chemical yield and enantioselectivity. A wide range of N‐sulfonylimines and dialkylzinc reagents were found to be applicable to this reaction.     

Kinetic resolution of 5-substituted cycloalkenones by peptidic amidophosphane-copper-catalyzed asymmetric conjugate addition of dialkylzinc

Asymmetric conjugate alkylation reaction of racemic 5-substituted cyclohexenones with dialkylzinc reagents was catalyzed by 2-5 mol % of dipeptidic amidophosphane-Cu(MeCN)₄BF₄ in toluene at 0 °C for 20 min to recover enantioenriched starting 5-substituted cyclohexenones with 88-98% ee in 28-41% yield along with trans major 3-alkylated 5-substituted cyclohexanones with 81-90% ee in 53-60% yield. Complete consumption of starting racemic 5-TMS-cyclohexenone by treating with diethylzinc under the catalytic asymmetric reaction conditions gave trans major 85:15 mixture of trans- and cis-3-ethyl-5-TMS-cyclohexanones with 15% ee (for trans) in 83% combined yield, indicating that the conformation-controlled trans-alkylation of cyclohexenone prevails over chiral catalyst-controlled enantiofacial differentiation.     

Using Natural Cinchona Alkaloids to Promote the Enantioselective Addition of Dialkylzinc to N－Diphenylphosphinylimines

Cinchona alkaloids are utilized as chiral ligands to promote the enantioselective addition of dialkylzinc to N-diphenyiphosphinylirnlnes affording enantiomerically enriched N-diphenyiphosphinylamines in up to 91% ee.     

Stereoselective preparation and reactions of configurationally defined dialkylzinc compounds

The reaction of cyclic and open-chain diastereomerically pure secondary organoboranes with diisopropylzinc allows the preparation of secondary dialkylzinc reagents with good to excellent retention of configuration as shown by deuterolysis and CuI- and Pd0-mediated reactions with electrophiles. The importance of a high boron-zinc exchange rate to obtain high diastereoselectivity has been shown. Improvement of the configurational stability and stereomeric purity of the zinc intermediates has been obtained by using mono-isopinocampheylborane ((-)-IpcBH2) providing optically active dialkylzinc compounds (up to 96% ee) with enhanced diastereoselectivities.     

Copper phosphoramidite catalyzed enantioselective ring-opening of oxabicyclic alkenes: remarkable reversal of stereocontrol

[reaction: see text] An unprecedented copper phosphoramidite catalyzed enantioselective alkylative ring-opening reaction of oxabenzonorbornadiene derivatives with dialkylzinc reagents is reported. The reaction shows high levels of anti-stereoselectivity (up to anti/syn >99:1), complementary to the Pd(0)-catalyzed syn-selective ring-opening protocol, allowing a new entry to anti-dihydronaphthols with high enantioselectivity (up to 99% ee).     

Pyrrolidine-diaminomethylenemalononitrile organocatalyst for Michael additions of carbonyl compounds to nitroalkenes under solvent-free conditions

The novel pyrrolidine-diaminomethylenemalononitrile organocatalyst 7 promotes the asymmetric conjugate addition of a carbonyl compound to a nitroalkene to afford the corresponding adduct in high yield with up to 99% ee, under solvent-free conditions.     

Construction of a new type of chiral bidentate NHC ligands: copper-catalyzed asymmetric conjugate alkylation

We synthesized in three steps simple chiral bidentate NHC compounds that carry an achiral coordinating group as N-substituent and revealed that they serve as efficient chiral auxiliaries for the copper-catalyzed asymmetric conjugate addition of dialkylzinc to acyclic enones (up to 97% ee).     

Catalytic enantioselective addition of diorganozinc reagents to vinyl sulfones

An efficient method for the catalytic asymmetric conjugate addition of diorganozinc reagents to vinyl sulfones is reported. Using a Binap*Cu complex, enantioselectivities up to 98% ee and high yields can be attained for a variety of substrates. Several dialkylzinc reagents are also compatible with this procedure.