Small peptides catalyze highly enantioselective direct aldol reactions of aldehydes with hydroxyacetone: unprecedented regiocontrol in aqueous media

[reaction: see text] L-Proline-based small peptides have been developed as efficient catalysts for the asymmetric direct aldol reactions of hydroxyacetone with aldehydes. Chiral 1,4-diols 7, which are disfavored products in similar aldol reactions catalyzed by either aldolases or L-proline, were obtained in high yields and enantioselectivities of up to 96% ee with peptides 3 and 4 in aqueous media.     

l-Proline amides catalyze direct asymmetric aldol reactions of aldehydes with methylthioacetone and fluoroacetone

Direct aldol reactions of aldehydes with methylthio- and fluoroacetone catalyzed by proline amides have been investigated. l-Prolinamide 5e was found to be the best catalyst. Under the optimized reaction conditions, a series of aromatic and aliphatic aldehydes reacted smoothly with methylthioacetone, to generate 1-methylthio-4-hydroxyketones 3 in good yields and with high regio- and enantioselectivities. Excellent enantioselectivities of up to 98% ee were observed for aromatic aldehydes and even higher enantioselectivities of >99% ee were observed for aliphatic aldehydes. Asymmetric direct aldol reactions of fluoroacetone with aldehydes in the presence of 20 mol % of 5e preferentially occurred at the fluoromethyl group, yielding products with high enantioselectivities (up to 98% ee).     

Organocatalytic asymmetric syn-selective direct aldol reactions in water

A practical and convenient organocatalytic strategy is developed to provide a direct route to syn-selective aldol products in the presence of water. The siloxy serine organocatalyst mediates the direct aldol reaction of TBSO-protected hydroxyacetone with a variety of aldehydes to provide the aldol products in good yields and enantioselectivities up to 92%.     

A new organocatalyst derived from abietic acid and 4-hydroxy-l-proline for direct asymmetric aldol reactions in aqueous media

Enantioselective direct aldol reactions were carried out in aqueous media with a new organocatalyst that was derived from 4-hydroxy-l-proline and abietic acid via a simple and convenient synthetic protocol with a high overall yield (75%). The new organocatalyst was used for aldol reactions between substituted aromatic aldehydes and various ketones in the presence of several acid additives in aqueous media. The corresponding aldol products were obtained in high isolated yields (up to 99%) and with high anti-diastereoselectivities (up to 94%) and enantioselectivities (>99.9%). The catalyst loading can be efficiently reduced to only 1 mol %. The aldol reactions were found to be extremely fast which is very unusual in organocatalyzed reactions in water.     

Direct asymmetric aldol reactions inspired by two types of natural aldolases: water-compatible organocatalysts and Zn(II) complexes

In this article the utility of water-compatible amino-acid-based catalysts was explored in the development of diastereo- and enantioselective direct aldol reactions of a broad range of substrates. Chiral C(2)-symmetrical proline- and valine-based amides and their Zn(II) complexes were designed for use as efficient and flexible chiral catalysts for enantioselective aldol reactions in water, on water, and in the presence of water. The presence of 5 mol % of the prolinamide-based catalyst affords asymmetric intermolecular aldol reactions between unmodified ketones and various aldehydes to give anti products with excellent enantioselectivities. We also demonstrate aldol reactions of more demanding substrates with high affinity to water (i.e., acetone and formaldehyde). Newly designed serine-based organocatalyst promoted aldol reaction of hydroxyacetone leading to syn-diols. For presented catalytic systems organic solvent-free conditions are also acceptable, making the elaborated methodology interesting from a green chemistry perspectives.     

Small Organic Molecules for Direct Aldol Reaction

Since the pioneering finding by List and Barbas III and their coworkers that L-proline could work as a catalyst in the intermolecular direct aldol reaction, the concept of small organic molecules as catalysts has received great attention. However, new organic molecule which have better catalysis ability are reported scarcely. Our groups1 found L-Prolinamides 1 to be active catalysts for the direct aldol reaction of 4-nitrobenaldehyde with neat acetone at room temperature. The enantioselecti…     

Additive-controlled regioselective direct asymmetric aldol reaction of hydroxyacetone and aldehyde

A structurally simple dipeptide derivative 1b prepared from l-proline and l-valine has been developed for the direct asymmetric aldol reaction of hydroxyacetone and various aldehydes with moderate to high yields and high enantioselectivities. More importantly, this regioselective reaction could be easily regulated by changing the additives in the presence of the same organocatalyst 1b, to afford the normal 1,2-diol adducts and the disfavoured 1,4-diol products, respectively, in a highly regioselective fashion. A possible reaction mechanism has also been proposed.     

Novel small organic molecules for a highly enantioselective direct aldol reaction

Novel organic molecules containing an l-proline amide moiety and a terminal hydroxyl for catalyzing direct asymmetric aldol reactions of aldehydes in neat acetone are designed and prepared. Catalyst 3d, prepared from l-proline and (1S,2S)-diphenyl-2-aminoethanol, exhibits high enantioselectivities of up to 93% ee for aromatic aldehydes and up to >99% ee for aliphatic aldehydes. A theoretical study of transition structures demonstrates the important role of the terminal hydroxyl group in the catalyst in the stereodiscrimination. Our results suggest a new strategy in the design of new organic catalysts for direct asymmetric aldol reactions and related transformations because plentiful chiral resources containing multi-hydrogen bond donors, for example, peptides, might be adopted in the design.     

Organo-catalyzed highly diastereo- and enantio-selective direct aldol reactions in water

The asymmetric direct aldol reactions of a wide scope of aromatic aldehydes, with unmodified ketones in the presence of 1 mol % of organocatalyst prepared from (2R,3R)-diethyl 2-amino-3-hydroxysuccinate and trans-4-hydroxy-l-proline, were performed in water, affording aldol products in high yields with excellent diastereoselectivities of up to >99:1 and enantioselectivities of up to 98%.     

Amino acid catalyzed direct asymmetric aldol reactions: a bioorganic approach to catalytic asymmetric carbon-carbon bond-forming reactions.

Direct asymmetric catalytic aldol reactions have been successfully performed using aldehydes and unmodified ketones together with commercially available chiral cyclic secondary amines as catalysts. Structure-based catalyst screening identified L-proline and 5,5-dimethyl thiazolidinium-4-carboxylate (DMTC) as the most powerful amino acid catalysts for the reaction of both acyclic and cyclic ketones as aldol donors with aromatic and aliphatic aldehydes to afford the corresponding aldol products with high regio-, diastereo-, and enantioselectivities. Reactions employing hydroxyacetone as an aldol donor provide anti-1,2-diols as the major product with ee values up to >99%. The reactions are assumed to proceed via a metal-free Zimmerman-Traxler-type transition state and involve an enamine intermediate. The observed stereochemistry of the products is in accordance with the proposed transition state. Further supporting evidence is provided by the lack of nonlinear effects. The reactions tolerate a small amount of water (<4 vol %), do not require inert reaction conditions and preformed enolate equivalents, and can be conveniently performed at room temperature in various solvents. In addition, reaction conditions that facilitate catalyst recovery as well as immobilization are described. Finally, mechanistically related addition reactions such as ketone additions to imines (Mannich-type reactions) and to nitro-olefins and alpha,beta-unsaturated diesters (Michael-type reactions) have also been developed.     

Direct asymmetric aldol reactions catalyzed by a siloxy serine organocatalyst in water

A siloxy-l-serine organocatalyst has been developed to catalyze direct asymmetric aldol reactions in the presence of water, furnishing the β-hydroxy carbonyl scaffold in high enantio- and diastereoselectivities. The direct aldol reaction between a selection of aromatic aldehydes and cyclohexanone resulted in good yields and high enantioselectivities.     

Water-compatible organocatalysts for direct asymmetric syn-aldol reactions of dihydroxyacetone and aldehydes

A novel organocatalyst was developed that effectively catalyzed the reactions of unprotected or protected dihydroxyacetone with a variety of aldehydes to provide syn-aldol products with good yields and ee values up to >99%. Significantly, this amide catalyst was effective with a variety of nonaromatic aldehyde acceptors that had proven difficult in the presence of other catalysts. Reactions of protected dihydroxyacetone proceeded in aqueous media without addition of organic solvents.     

Highly efficient asymmetric aldol reaction in brine using a fluorous sulfonamide organocatalyst

A fluorous organocatalyst promotes direct asymmetric aldol reactions of aromatic aldehydes with ketones in brine to afford the corresponding anti-aldol products in high yield with up to 96% ee. Fluorous organocatalyst can be readily recovered by solid phase extraction using fluorous silica gel and reused without purification.     

Upper rim-functionalized calix[4]arene-based l-proline as organocatalyst for direct asymmetric aldol reactions in water and organic media

The synthesis of upper rim-functionalized calix[4]arene-based l-proline was described, and its catalytic efficiency as organocatalyst for the enantioselective aldol reaction in water was investigated. The results showed that the nature of the hydrophobic cavity of calixarene is critical for catalytic activity in water. The products of the reaction between various ketones and aldehydes with anti-configuration were obtained in high yields (up to 94%) with high diastereo- (up to 95:5 dr) and enantioselectivities (up to 80% ee).     

Dipeptide-catalyzed direct asymmetric aldol reactions in the presence of water

The l-proline-based dipeptide has been discovered and developed as an efficient catalyst for the direct asymmetric aldol reactions of unmodified ketones with various aldehydes including aromatic, aliphatic, heteroaromatic, and unsaturated aldehydes in the presence of water at 0 °C. The resulted methodology and optimal conditions led to the corresponding aldol products with high yields (up to 94%) and good enantioselectivities (up to 97% ee).     

Proline-based dipeptides with two amide units as organocatalyst for the asymmetric aldol reaction of cyclohexanone with aldehydes

A series of proline-based dipeptide organocatalysts with two amide units (1-16) have been developed and evaluated in the direct catalytic asymmetric aldol reactions of aldehydes with cyclohexanone. These catalysts showed good solubility in organic solvents compared with their corresponding carboxyl terminal dipeptides. The robust amide bond formation allowed structural modifications and fine tuning of catalyst properties by varying the stereo and electronic effects of the terminal amide to affect the ability of hydrogen bonding formation between the catalysts and the substrates. The reactions proceeded smoothly in high yields (up to 99%), enantioselectivities (up to 98% ee) and anti-diastereoselectivities (up to 99:1) in the presence of bifunctional organocatalyst 4 under the optimal reaction conditions.     

Highly diastereo- and enantioselective direct aldol reactions of cycloketones with aldehydes catalyzed by a trans-4-tert-butyldimethylsiloxy-l-proline amide

An organocatalyst derived from trans-4-hydroxy-l-proline and (1S,2S)-1,2-diphenyl-2-aminoethanol catalyzes the direct aldol reactions of cycloketones with a wide scope of aldehydes in high yields and with excellent diastereoselectivities of up to >99:1 and enantioselectivities of up to >99% ee.     

Small Peptides Catalyzed Direct Aldol Reactions of Aldehydes with Hydroxyacetone with Regiocontrol in Aqueous Media

Very recently, we[1] found that L-proline amides and dipeptides acted as efficient catalysts for the asymmetric direct aldol reaction. We report here that L-proline-based peptides 1～5 can catalyze the aldol reactions of hydroxyacetone with aldehydes 6 in aqueous media, to give 1,4-diols (7), the disfavored products with either aldolase or L-proline. Both peptides 3 and 4 give good results.     

Asymmetric organocatalytic direct aldol reactions of ketones with alpha-keto acids and their application to the synthesis of 2-hydroxy-gamma-butyrolactones

A variety of organocatalysts for the asymmetric direct aldol reactions of ketones with alpha-keto acids were designed on the basis of molecular recognition and prepared from proline and aminopyridines. The organic molecule 8e, derived from proline and 6-methyl-2-amino pyridine, was the best catalyst, affording excellent enantioselectivities (up to 98% ee) for the direct aldol reactions of acetone or 2-butanone with a wide range of alpha-keto acids and for the reactions of various acyclic aliphatic ketones with 3-(2-nitrophenyl)-2-oxopropanoic acid. The aldol adducts could be converted to 2-hydroxy-gamma-butyrolactones by reaction sequences of diastereoselective reduction and lactonization. Experimental and theoretical studies on the transition states revealed that the amide N-H and the pyridine N of the organocatalyst selectively form hydrogen bonds with the keto oxygen and the carboxylic acid hydroxy of the alpha-keto acid, respectively. These two hydrogen-bonding interactions are important for the reactivity and enantioselectivity of the direct asymmetric aldol condensation.     

Highly stereoselective direct aldol reactions catalyzed by (S)-NOBIN-l-prolinamide

(S)-NOBIN-l-prolinamide was employed as organocatalyst in the direct aldol reactions of different ketones and aromatic aldehydes using dioxane as solvent and in the presence of water as additive. Acetone led to the aldol products in up to 93% ee, while cyclic ketones furnished the anti-aldols in moderate to high yield, excellent diastereoselectivity (up to >99/<1 anti/syn ratio) and high ee (up to 95%).