A highly regio- and enantioselective organocatalyzed Michael addition of malonates to nitrodienes

An organocatalyzed direct Michael addition of unsubstituted/substituted malonates, acetoacetate, or acetylacetones to conjugated nitrodienes using a cinchona alkaloid-based thiourea catalyst is disclosed. The addition products were formed in high yields and regioselectivity. The enantioselectivities of the addition products were high in most cases and could significantly be improved upon by a single recrystallization. The addition products easily undergo chemoselective nitro group reduction and subsequent lactamization with a high synthetic potential.     

A catalytic enantioselective conjugate addition of cyanide to enones

The first synthetically useful catalytic enantioselective conjugate addition of cyanide to enones is described. The optimized conditions involved a Gd catalyst (5 or 10 mol %) derived from ligands 3 or 4 and a 1:1 ratio of TBSCN and 2,6-dimethylphenol. The reaction exhibited excellent to high enantioselectivity and a wide substrate scope. Moreover, the 1,4-adduct was exclusively produced over the 1,2-adduct. The complete regioselectivity was due both to stabilization of the 1,4-selective silylated polymetallic catalyst (7) using a TBS group and the ability of the asymmetric catalyst to promote retro-cyanation from the 1,2-adduct.     

Preparation of pyrrolidine-based PDE4 inhibitors via enantioselective conjugate addition of alpha-substituted malonates to aromatic nitroalkenes

[reaction: see text] The enantioselective conjugate addition of alpha-substituted malonates to aromatic nitroalkenes generates a stereocenter at the carbon bearing the aromatic group and an adjacent prochiral center from the alpha-substituted malonate. Nitro reduction followed by diastereoselective cyclization provides pyrrolidinones with two contiguous stereocenters, one of which is quaternary. This sequence was used for the preparation of the PDE4 inhibitor IC86518. Additional examples of the enantioselective Michael addition illustrate the scope of the reaction.     

Catalytic enantioselective conjugate addition en route to paxilline indoloterpenoids

Development of enantioselective synthesis of precursor en route to paxilline indoloterpenoids is described. Evaluation of 25 diphosphine-based ligands has led to identification of JosiPhos derivative that allows for asymmetric conjugate addition of homoprenyl Grignard reagent to 2-methylcyclopent-2-en-1-one in excellent yield and with appreciable levels of enantioinduction. Application to the conjugate addition of other Grignard reagents is demonstrated.     

Synthesis of 3-substituted 1,5-aldehyde esters via an organocatalytic highly enantioselective conjugate addition of new carbonylmethyl 2-pyridinylsulfone to enals

A highly enantioselective organocatalytic protocol for conjugate addition of new nucleophilic carbonylmethyl 2-pyridinylsulfone to enals has been developed in good yields and with high enantioselectivities. The resulting Michael adducts are versatile building blocks for a variety of organic transformations.     

Simple chiral sulfonamide primary amine catalysed highly enantioselective Michael addition of malonates to enones

A chiral sulfonamide primary amine-organocatalysed, highly enantioselective Michael addition of malonates to enones has been developed. This reaction afforded the corresponding products in excellent yields (up to 99%) and excellent enantioselectivity (up to 99% ee).     

An enantioselective synthesis of (+)-polyoxamic acid via phase-transfer catalytic conjugate addition and asymmetric dihydroxylation

A new enantioselective synthetic method of (+)-polyoxamic acid is reported. (+)-Polyoxamic acid could be obtained in 7 steps with 46% overall yield from diphenylmethyl-glycineimine tert-butyl ester via an enantioselective phase-transfer conjugate addition (99% yield, 96% ee) and an asymmetric dihydroxylation (98% yield, 94% de) as the key reactions.     

Synthesis of beta-substituted alpha-amino acids via Lewis acid promoted enantioselective radical conjugate additions

[Chemical reaction: See text] Lewis acid promoted radical conjugate additions to beta-substituted alpha,beta-unsaturated alpha-nitro esters and amides were investigated. With achiral Lewis acids, there was competition between the desired radical conjugate addition and undesired alkene reduction mediated by Bu3nH. Zinc Lewis acids provided the greatest amounts of addition products with both substrate classes. Studies with Bu3nD indicated that the acidic alpha-stereocenter of the alpha-nitro ester products does not racemize under controlled workup conditions. The corresponding alpha-nitro amides racemized significantly during chromatography, but this problem could be greatly minimized by subjecting the crude adducts to subsequent transformations. Indium-mediated reduction of the nitro group followed by acylation of the resulting amine provided good yields of beta-substituted alpha-amino acid derivatives with mimimal levels of racemization. Attempts to use chiral Lewis acids in a stereoselective variant of this process revealed that Kanemasa's DBFOX/Ph ligand (14a) was uniquely effective. Moderate to good ee's and low dr's were obtained with amide substrates. Determination of the absolute configurations of the syn and anti isomers of adduct 7b showed that the hydrogen atom abstraction step was significantly more stereoselective than the radical conjugate addition step. A model for substrate binding to the chiral Lewis acid is presented.     

A novel catalytic decarbonylative Heck-type reaction and conjugate addition of aldehydes to unsaturated carbonyl compounds

A novel rhodium-catalyzed decarbonylative reaction of aldehydes with unsaturated carbonyl compounds was discovered to generate Heck-type reaction product and conjugate addition product.     

A highly enantioselective and diastereoselective synthesis of cyclobutanes via boronic esters

[formula: see text] Deprotonation of enantiopure (R,R)-1,2-dicyclohexyl-1,2-ethanediol 1-chloro-4-cyanobutylboronates 5 with LDA followed by treatment with anhydrous magnesium bromide yields (R)-(trans-2-cyanocyclobutyl)boronic esters 7 in high diastereomeric and enantiomeric purity. No cyclobutane formation has been observed in the absence of at least a catalytic amount of magnesium halide.     

An iterative catalytic route to enantiopure deoxypropionate subunits: asymmetric conjugate addition of grignard reagents to alpha,beta-unsaturated thioesters

A highly enantioselective (up to 96% ee) conjugate addition of Grignard reagents, in particular, MeMgBr, to alpha,beta-unsaturated thioesters is provided as well as its application to a diastereo- and enantioselective iterative route to syn- and anti-1,3-dimethyl arrays and deoxypropionate subunits. The versatility of the method is illustrated in the synthesis of (-)-lardolure, a multimethyl-branched insect natural pheromone.     

The thiazolium-catalyzed Sila-Stetter reaction: conjugate addition of acylsilanes to unsaturated esters and ketones

A new acyl anion addition reaction between acylsilanes and alpha,beta-unsaturated conjugate acceptors promoted by a nucleophilic organic catalyst has been disclosed. The 1,4-dicarbonyl products produced in this reaction are highly useful synthons. Neutral carbenes (or zwitterions) generated in situ from commercial thiazolium salts are used as effective catalysts for the reaction which is in contrast to established anionic catalysts typically employed to promote the required Brook rearrangement (1,2-silyl shift from carbon to oxygen) involved in the reported reaction. This process successfully utilizes acylsilanes as tunable acyl anion progenitors and is tolerant of a wide range of structural diversity on the acylsilane or the conjugate acceptor.     

Highly enantioselective,catalytic conjugate addition of cyanide to alpha,beta-unsaturated imides

(Salen)Al-Cl complex 1a catalyzes the asymmetric conjugate addition of hydrogen cyanide to alpha,beta-unsaturated imides in high yields and enantioselectivities. The cyanide adducts can readily be converted into a variety of useful chiral building blocks, including alpha-substituted-beta-amino acids and beta-substituted-gamma-aminobutyric acids. Mechanistic data obtained thus far point to a cooperative bimetallic mechanism for nucleophile and electrophile activation.     

Cooperative dual catalysis: application to the highly enantioselective conjugate cyanation of unsaturated imides

Cooperative heterobimetallic catalysis was used as a design principle to achieve a highly reactive system for the enantioselective conjugate addition of cyanide to alpha,beta-unsaturated imides. A dual-catalyst pathway involving chiral (salen)Al complex 1b and chiral (pybox)Er complex 4b provides measurable improvements in rates and enantioselectivities relative to single-catalyst systems. Mechanistic studies point to a cooperative bimetallic mechanism involving activation of the imide by the Al complex and activation of cyanide by the Er complex.