Michael addition of chiral formaldehyde N,N-dialkylhydrazones to activated cyclic alkenes

The nucleophilic conjugate addition of chiral formaldehyde N,N-dialkylhydrazones 1 to doubly activated cyclic alkenes 2-8 proceeds smoothly to afford the corresponding Michael adducts 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, and 25 in variable yields and selectivities. The reactions take place either spontaneously or in the presence of MgI₂ as a mild Lewis acid depending on the type of substrate. Release of the chiral auxiliary was achieved by transformation of the hydrazone moiety into acetals, dithioacetals or nitriles.     

Catalytic asymmetric aza Diels-Alder reactions of hydrazones using a chiral zirconium catalyst

Catalytic asymmetric aza Diels-Alder reactions of acylhydrazones with Danishefsky’s dienes have been developed. A chiral zirconium complex derived from zirconium propoxide and 3,3′,6,6′-I₄BINOL was found to be effective in this reaction, and the desired optically active 2,3-dihydro-4-pyridone derivatives were obtained with high enantioselectivities. Asymmetric formal synthesis of a natural product, coniine, was conducted using this catalytic asymmetric reaction as a key step.     

Silver (I)-promoted asymmetric halohydrin reaction of chiral N-enoyl-2-oxazolidinones: scope and limitations

The halohydrin reaction of chiral N-enoyl-2-oxazolidinones 1 by halogen (Br₂/I₂) and water were efficiently carried out in aqueous organic solvent promoted by silver(I) with high anti- and regioselectivity and moderate to good diastereoselectivities. The alkenoyl, cinnamoyl and electron-deficient cinnamoyl substrates smoothly underwent bromohydrin reaction in aqueous acetone but no iodohydrin reaction, where as electron-rich cinnamoyl substrates preferred to undergo iodohydrin reaction in aqueous acetone with moderate diastereoselectivity and enhanced diastereoselectivity was observed in aqueous THF.     

New ligands and structural insights into the catalytic asymmetric addition of organozinc reagents to ketones

The catalytic asymmetric addition of alkyl groups to ketones has received considerable attention. Outlined herein is the synthesis of two new ligands based on the C₂-symmetric 11,12-diamino-9,10-dihydro-9,10-ethanoanthracene. The scope of the new ligands has been evaluated in the catalytic asymmetric addition of diethylzinc to a variety of ketones. Enantioselectivities as high as 99% have been achieved. The structures of two of these ligands have been determined by X-ray crystallography and are compared with related structures. Additionally, the structure of a titanium complex bound to a bis(sulfonamide) diol ligand is reported.     

New pyridine N-oxides as chiral organocatalysts in the asymmetric allylation of aromatic aldehydes

Asymmetric allylation of aromatic aldehydes 1 with allyltrichlorosilane (2) can be catalyzed by new terpene-derived bipyridine N,N′-dioxides 12-15 and an axially chiral biisoquinoline dioxide 17b with good enantioselectivities. Dioxides have been found to be more reactive catalysts than their monooxide counterparts.     

N-Phosphano nitrogen-containing five-membered aromatic chiral α-sulfoxides as new chiral ligands in asymmetric palladium-catalyzed allylic alkylation: stereoelectronic effects of the substituents on the aromatic rings

New chiral ligands, N-diphenylphosphano nitrogen-containing five-membered aromatic compounds bearing chiral sulfinyl groups as the sole chiral source has been developed. The structure of a palladium intermediate derived from the new chiral sulfoxide ligand was determined as a palladium complex with a five-membered chelate ring formed by coordination of the phosphano group and the sulfinyl sulfur atom involved. The stereoelectronic effects of substituents on the aromatic rings are discussed.     

A complementary method to obtain N-acyl enamides using the Heck reaction: extending the substrate scope for asymmetric hydrogenation

A method to prepare N-acyl enamides is reported that is complementary to the existing protocols. Heck reaction of a variety of aryl trifluoromethanesulfonates with commercially available N-vinylacetamide occurred in a highly regioselective fashion to provide these valuable synthetic intermediates. This method permits the formation of N-acyl enamides containing functionality that would not be tolerated by the existing methods. Asymmetric hydrogenation using [diphosphine RhCOD]BF₄ complexes provided optically active protected amines in up to 99% ee. De-acylation occurs without affecting the amine enantiopurity.     

Enantioselective addition of diethylzinc to N-diphenylphosphinoylimines employing cinchonidine and cinchonine as chiral ligands

The use of the `pseudoenantiomeric pair' of cinchonine and cinchonidine as ligands for the addition of diethylzinc to N-diphenylphosphinoylimines has been investigated. With 1 equiv of cinchonidine as ligand, a series of chiral amines was prepared in good yield and enantiomeric excesses of up to 94%. The use of 2.0 equiv of methanol as an achiral additive was found significantly to improve the selectivity of the addition when using 0.2 equiv of ligand, yielding ee's close to those obtained with a stoichiometric amount of ligand.     

Pyrrolidine-carbamate based new and efficient chiral organocatalyst for asymmetric Michael addition of ketones to nitroolefins

The novel ((S)-pyrrolidin-2-yl)methyl phenylcarbamate was synthesized and used as an efficient organocatalyst for the asymmetric Michael addition of cyclic/acyclic ketones to nitroolefins. Interestingly, the resulting Michael adducts were obtained in good to high yields (up to 96%) with excellent stereoselectivity (ee up to >99%, dr up to >99:1) without using any additive.     

A practical asymmetric conjugate addition to cyclic enones with chiral bifunctional Ru amido catalysts

A practical asymmetric C-C bond formation to synthetically useful β-chiral cyclic ketones (>99% ee) using bifunctional chiral amido Ru catalysts under an S/C = 1000, the highest ratio achieved so far in the literature for this class of reactions, is described. The catalytic reactivity decreases in the order of Ru(Msdpen)(hmb) > Ru(Pfbsdpen)(hmb) > Ru(Tsdpen)(hmb) > Ru(PMsdpen)(hmb), where Ru(Pfbsdpen)(hmb) is a newly developed chiral bifunctional catalyst. Complex Ru(Msdpen)(hmb) was identified as the best in terms of reactivity and enantioface selectivity, whereas Ru(PMsdpen)(hmb) gave unsatisfactory results. An importance of the NH proton in the bifunctional catalyst for determining the enantioselectivity has been experimentally demonstrated. Valuable information for the reaction mechanism was accumulated.     

The preparation of novel chiral auxiliaries SAMIQ/RAMIQ and their application in the asymmetric Michael addition

A pair of novel chiral auxiliaries SAMIQ/RAMIQ was synthesized from l- or d-phenylalanine methyl ester hydrochloride over six steps in 45.8% and 44.4% yield, respectively. The SAMIQ-/RAMIQ-hydrazone methodology was applied for the asymmetric Michael addition of ketones to α,β-unsaturated carboxylic acid methyl esters, which afforded 3-substituted-5-oxo-alkanoates in moderate to good yield (65–82%) with excellent enantioselectivity (ee=95.3%∼>99.5%).     

Development of an N-sulfinyl prolinamide for the asymmetric aldol reaction

A new class of organocatalysts is reported that incorporates an N-sulfinyl amide in place of the carboxylic acid of proline to serve as a hydrogen bond donor, chiral directing group, and solubilizing element. The successful application of this type of catalyst to the asymmetric aldol reaction of acetone and aryl aldehydes, for which proline performs poorly, is also described.     

BINOL-derived N-phosphino sulfoximines as ligands for asymmetric catalysis

BINOL-derived N-phosphino sulfoximines have been prepared for the first time and tested as ligands in asymmetric transition metal catalysis. Up to 99% ee was achieved in the Rh-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of functionalized olefins and up to 66% ee in the Pd-catalyzed allylic alkylation.     

anti-Aldol reactions of chiral alcohol-substituted vinylogous urethanes and the synthesis of (−)-prelactone B

This paper describes a convenient and efficient method for synthesizing chiral alcohol-substituted vinylogous urethanes, in which the double bond has E configuration was determined by single crystal X-ray analysis. In addition, we investigated the anti-aldol reactions of these chiral vinylogous urethane anions. The use of (1S,2R,4R)-1-(hydroxydiphenylmethyl)-7,7-dimethylbicyclo[2,2,1]-heptan-2-ol as a chiral auxiliary, provided the best enantioselectivities, and the resulting vinylogous urethane lactone could be used for the synthesis of (−)-prelactone B. A plausible mechanism for the generation of major enantiomeric isomer was discussed.     

Camphoric acid derived sulfur containing bicyclic carboxylic acids as chiral auxiliaries in N-acyliminium ion chemistry

Three novel sulfur containing chiral bicyclic carboxylic acids were synthesized from d-camphoric acid. Two of these compounds were briefly evaluated for their potency as chiral auxiliaries in Asymmetric Electrophilic α-Amidoalkylation (AEαA) reactions.     

Stereoselective synthesis of novel C-azanucleoside analogues by microwave-assisted nucleophilic addition of sugar-derived cyclic nitrones

A series of C-azanucleoside analogues were synthesized by microwave-assisted nucleophilic addition of electron-rich hetero-aromatics to sugar-derived cyclic nitrones, and followed by reduction and deprotection. The nucleophilic addition afforded the 2′,3′-trans isomer as the dominant by the favorite exo attack and showed high stereoselectivity in polar solvent.     

Enantioselective cyanosilylation of ketones catalyzed by double-activation catalysts with N-oxides

Enantioselective addition of trimethylsilyl cyanide to ketones by a catalytic double-activation method is described. By combinatorially using 2.0 mol% of a chiral salen-titanium complex and 1.0 mol% of an achiral tertiary amine N-oxide, aromatic, aliphatic and α,β-unsaturated ketones are converted into corresponding cyanohydrin trimethylsilyl ethers with 50-93% yield and 59-86% ee. The effects of ligand structure, catalyst loading and substrate concentration, solvents, the nature of Lewis base, counter ion and other additives, temperature, and substrate structure on the enantioselectivity are discussed. Three possible paths to achieve the asymmetric version of double-activation catalysis and two independent examples of it are proposed.     

Axially chiral phosphine-oxazoline ligands in silver(I)-catalyzed asymmetric Mannich reaction of N-Boc aldimines with trimethylsiloxyfuran

Axially chiral phosphine-oxazoline ligand L6 was found to be a fairly effective chiral ligand in silver(I)-catalyzed asymmetric Mannich reaction of N-Boc aldimines with trimethylsiloxyfuran to give the corresponding adducts in up to 97% yield, 7:1 dr and 86% ee (major diastereoisomer).     

Application of (S)- and (R)-methyl pyroglutamates as inexpensive, yet highly efficient chiral auxiliaries in the asymmetric Michael addition reactions

Methyl N-(E-enoyl)pyroglutamates, derived from inexpensive and readily available in both enantiomeric forms pyroglutamic acid were found to be an efficient Michael acceptors in the addition reactions with nucleophilic glycine equivalent allowing for an efficient practical asymmetric synthesis of β-substituted pyroglutamic acids and related compounds.