A Base‐Free Neutral Phase‐Transfer Reaction System

Although phase‐transfer reactions catalyzed by using quaternary ammonium salts are generally believed to require base additives, we discovered that, even without any base additives, conjugate additions of 3‐substituted oxindoles to nitroolefins proceeded smoothly in the presence of lipophilic quaternary ammonium bromide under water–organic biphasic conditions. The mechanism of this novel base‐free neutral phase‐transfer reaction system is investigated and the assumed catalytic cycle is presented together with interesting effects of water and lipophilicity of the phase‐transfer catalyst. The base‐free neutral phase‐transfer reaction system can be applied to highly enantioselective conjugate addition and aldol reactions under the influence of chiral bifunctional ammonium bromides as key catalysts. The structure of the chiral ammonium enolate intermediate is discussed based on the single‐crystal X‐ray structures of relevant ammonium salts and the importance of bifunctional design of catalyst is clearly explained in the model of intermediate.     

Diastereo- and enantioselective conjugate addition of α-substituted nitroacetates to maleimides under base-free neutral phase-transfer conditions

Highly diastereo- and enantioselective conjugate addition of α-substituted nitroacetates to maleimides under base-free neutral phase-transfer conditions was developed for the synthesis of α,α-disubstituted α-amino acid derivatives.     

The direct catalytic asymmetric aldol reaction of α-substituted nitroacetates with aqueous formaldehyde under base-free neutral phase-transfer conditions

Enantioselective direct aldol reaction of α-substituted nitroacetates with aqueous formaldehyde for the synthesis of α-alkyl serines has been achieved under base-free neutral phase-transfer conditions with a bifunctional chiral phase-transfer catalyst.     

Effect of Brønsted acid co-catalyst in asymmetric conjugate addition of 3-aryloxindoles to maleimide under base-free phase-transfer conditions

Highly diastereo- and enantioselective conjugate addition of 3-aryloxindoles to maleimide was accomplished under base-free phase-transfer conditions. The effect of Brønsted acid co-catalyst was examined, and we found that the use of a phenol derivative as co-catalyst was effective for obtaining the target conjugate adduct in good yield with high stereoselectivity.     

Chiral Tertiary Sulfonium Salts as Effective Catalysts for Asymmetric Base‐Free Neutral Phase‐Transfer Reactions

Although chiral quaternary ammonium and phosphonium salts are commonly used for asymmetric organocatalysis, the catalytic ability of chiral tertiary sulfonium salts has yet to be demonstrated in asymmetric synthesis. Herein, we show that chiral bifunctional trialkylsulfonium salts catalyze highly enantioselective conjugate additions of 3‐substituted oxindoles to maleimides under base‐free neutral phase‐transfer conditions.     

Cover Picture: Recent Asymmetric Phase-Transfer Catalysis with Chiral Binaphthyl-Modified and Related Phase-Transfer Catalysts over the Last 10 Years (Chem. Rec. 7/2023)

In this personal account, we describe our recent advances in the three types of phase-transfer catalysis for various transformations including asymmetric induction: Firstly, asymmetric phase-transfer catalysis with Maruoka-type C₂-symmetric chiral biaryl-modified tetraalkylammonium salts and phosphonium salts; Secondly, asymmetric phase-transfer catalysis under base-free and neutral conditions; Thirdly, hydrogen-bonding catalysis using tetraalkylammonium and trialkylsulfonium salts. These three different strategies are illustrated by using various phase-transfer catalyzed transformations.     

Soluble polymer-supported catalysts containing pendant quaternary onium salts for the addition reaction of oxiranes with carbon dioxide

The addition reaction of oxiranes ( 15a-d ) with carbon dioxide (CO₂) was carried out using 1 mol % of soluble polymer-supported quaternary onium salts as catalysts under atmospheric pressure. The reaction of 15a-d with CO₂ proceeded very smoothly to give the corresponding five-membered cyclic carbonates ( 16a-d ) in high yields at 90-100°C. The catalytic activity of the soluble polymer-supported quaternary onium salts was strongly affected by the following factors: kind of reaction solvent, degree of introduction of the pendant onium salt residues in the polymer chain, and type of alkyl group on the onium salts due to the balance between lipophilicity and steric hindrance of the onium salt residue. Furthermore, these soluble polymer-supported quaternary onium salts were found ordinarily to have higher catalytic activity than low molecular weight quaternary onium salts under the same reaction conditions. It was also found that the rate of reaction was proportional both to catalyst concentration and to oxirane concentration. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Insoluble polystyrene-bound quaternary onium salt catalysts for the synthesis of cyclic carbonates by the reaction of oxiranes with carbon dioxide

The addition reaction of oxiranes ( 26a—e ) with carbon dioxide (CO₂) was performed using insoluble polystyrene beads containing pendant quaternary ammonium or phosphonium salts as catalysts under atmospheric pressure. The reaction of 26a—e with CO₂ proceeded smoothly catalyzed by 1–2 mol % of the polymer-supported quaternary onium salts to give the corresponding cyclic carbonates ( 27a—e ) in high yields at 80–90°C. In this reaction system, the catalytic activity of the polymer-supported quaternary onium salts was strongly affected by the following factors: degree of ring substitution (DRS) of the onium salt residues to the polymer, degree of crosslinking (DC) of the polystyrene beads, chain length of the alkylene spacer between the polymer back-bone and the onium salt, hydrophobicity of the alkyl group on the onium salts, and kind of onium salts. That is, the polymer-supported quaternary phosphonium salts with low DRS and DC and with long alkylene spacer chain were found to have higher catalytic activity than low molecualr weight quaternary onium salts. The above polymer-supported catalysts can easily be separated at the end of a reaction by filtration and can be reused for at least seven runs. It was also found that the rate of reaction was proportional to the products of catalyst concentration and oxirane concentration. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Phase-transfer agents as catalysts for a nucleophilic substitution reaction in microemulsions

The reaction between 4-tert-butylbenzyl bromide and potassium iodide was carried out in microemulsions based on different nonionic surfactants, and the reaction rates were compared with those obtained in two-phase systems with added phase-transfer agent, either a quaternary ammonium salt or a crown ether. The reactions were relatively fast in the microemulsions and extremely sluggish in the two-phase systems without additional phase-transfer agent. Addition of a phase-transfer agent did not accelerate the reaction when a hydrocarbon was used as organic solvent, neither in the two-phase system nor in the microemulsion. When a chlorinated hydrocarbon was used as solvent, phase-transfer catalysis became effective and the rate obtained in the two-phase system with an equimolar amount of phase-transfer agent added was higher than that obtained in the microemulsion. When a catalytic amount of phase-transfer agent was used, the rate in the two-phase system was about the same as the rate obtained in the microemulsion without the phase-transfer agent. The combined approach, that is, use of a microemulsion as the reaction medium and addition of a phase-transfer agent, gave the highest reaction rate. The quaternary ammonium salt (tetrabutylammonium hydrogen sulfate) was a more efficient catalyst in the microemulsion system than the crown ether ([18]crown-6).     

POLYMER—SUPPORTED SINGLE AND MIXED AMMONIUM AND PHOSPHONIUM SALTS AS CATALYSTS FOR PHASE—TRANSFER REACTIONS

In this study was to investigate,by phase-transfer catalysis,the activity of single and mixed ammonium and phosphonium salts grafted on a “gel-type“ stryene-7% divinylbenzene copolymer in the oxidation of benzyl alcohol with hydrogen peroxide.A wide variety of catalysts with different quaternary groups and different quaternary chain length substitutents were examined.The activity of single“onium“salts increases as a consequence of the association of ammonium and phosphonium salts grafted onn the same polymeric support.The activity of polymer-supported ammonium and phosphonium salts increases with the number of carbon atoms contained in the alkyl radicals of the -onium and of the functionalization degree with phosphonium groups.     

Recent advances in asymmetric phase-transfer catalysis

The use of chiral nonracemic onium salts and crown ethers as effective phase-transfer catalysts have been studied intensively primarily for enantioselective carbon-carbon or carbon-heteroatom bond-forming reactions under mild biphasic conditions. An essential issue for optimal asymmetric catalysis is the rational design of catalysts for targeted reaction, which allows generation of a well-defined chiral ion pair that reacts with electrophiles in a highly efficient and stereoselective manner. This concept, together with the synthetic versatility of phase-transfer catalysis, provides a reliable and general strategy for the practical asymmetric synthesis of highly valuable organic compounds.     

Enantioselective solution- and solid-phase synthesis of glutamic acid derivatives via Michael addition reactions

The enantioselective conjugate addition of Schiff base ester derivatives to Michael acceptors either in solution (56–89% e.e.) or on solid-phase (34–82% e.e.) gave optically active unnatural α-amino acid derivatives. The reaction was conducted in the presence of chiral, non-racemic quaternary salts derived from the cinchona alkaloids using neutral, non-ionic phosphazene bases.     

Efficiency of phase-transfer catalysis in cyclopentene epoxidation with hydrogen peroxide

The effect of the structure and amount of the phase-transfer catalyst (quaternary ammonium salts) and the solvent effect on cyclopentene oxidation with an aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution in the liquid-liquid two-phase system was studied. The phase-transfer catalyst and solvent ensuring high reaction rate and high selectivity with respect to target products were chosen.     

Titanocene‐Catalyzed Radical Opening of N‐Acylated Aziridines

Aziridines activated by N‐acylation are opened to the higher substituted radical through electron transfer from titanocene(III) complexes in a novel catalytic reaction. This reaction is applicable in conjugate additions, reductions, and cyclizations and suited for the construction of quaternary carbon centers. The concerted mechanism of the ring opening is indicated by DFT calculations.     

The catalysis of proton exchange in methyl substituted 2-pyrimidones

The general-acid and general-base catalyzed exchange of the 4- or 6-Me groups in a series of Me substituted 2-pyrimidones has been studied. When the substrate is neutral the 6-Me group is 8–25 times more reactive than the 4-Me group; when the substrate is a cation (either a conjugate acid or a quaternary salt) there is little difference in reactivity. As a consequence the proton activating factor (paf) is larger for the 4-Me group than for the 6-Me group. It is shown that the reaction of hydroxide ion with neutral 1,6-dimethyl-2-pyrimidone is about a thousand times faster than the reaction of water with the compound's conjugate acid; that is, deprotonating the base is more effective at facilitating exchange than protonating the substrate.     

Synthesis of N-substituted imides via solid-liquid phase-transfer catalytic reaction

Summary N-substituted imides (RSIs) were synthesized from the reactions of alkylbromides (RX) and potassium salts of imides (KSIs) under solid-liquid phase-transfer catalytic conditions (SL-PTC). No water is required in the reaction system. In this work, serious hydration of KSIs is avoided using SL-PTC to synthesize RSIs. The reaction catalyzed by quaternary ammonium salts is greatly enhanced in the solid-liquid solution     

Efficient and practical synthesis of 4(5)-aryl-1H-imidazoles and 2,4(5)-diaryl-1H-imidazoles via highly selective palladium-catalyzed arylation reactions

4(5)-aryl-1H-imidazoles can be efficiently and selectively prepared by PdCl2(dppf)-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura reaction of commercially available 4(5)-bromo-1H-imidazole with arylboronic acids under phase-transfer conditions. On the other hand, N-unprotected 4(5)-aryl-1H-imidazoles can undergo highly selective Pd(OAc)2-catalyzed and CuI-mediated direct C-2-arylation with a variety of aryl bromides and iodides under base-free and ligandless conditions to produce 2,4(5)-diaryl-1H-imidazoles in modest to good yields. No N-arylation byproducts are observed under the experimental conditions used to prepare 2,4(5)-diaryl-1H-imidazoles.     

Design of N-spiro C2-symmetric chiral quaternary ammonium bromides as novel chiral phase-transfer catalysts: synthesis and application to practical asymmetric synthesis of alpha-amino acids

A series of C(2)-symmetric chiral quaternary ammonium bromides 10 and 11 have been designed as a new, purely synthetic chiral phase-transfer catalyst, and readily prepared from commercially available optically pure 1,1'-bi-2-naphthol as a basic chiral unit. The details of the synthetic procedures of each requisite chiral binaphthyl subunit have been disclosed, and the structures of the assembled N-spiro chiral quaternary ammonium bromides 11a and 11f were unequivocally determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The reactivity and selectivity of these chiral ammonium bromides as chiral phase-transfer catalysts have been evaluated in the asymmetric alkylation of the benzophenone Schiff base of glycine ester 7 under mild liquid-liquid phase-transfer conditions, and the optimization of the reaction variables (solvent, base, and temperature) has also been conducted. Further, the scope and limitations of this asymmetric alkylation have been thoroughly investigated with a variety of alkyl halides, in which the advantage of the unique N-spiro structure of 11 and dramatic effect of the steric as well as the electronic properties of the aromatic substituents on the 3,3'-position of one binaphthyl moiety have been particularly emphasized. Finally, the potential synthetic utility of the present method for the practical asymmetric synthesis of structurally diverse natural and unnatural alpha-amino acids has been demonstrated by its successful application to the facile asymmetric syntheses of (S)-N-acetylindoline-2-carboxylate, a key intermediate in the synthesis of the ACE inhibitor, and l-Dopa (l-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine) ester and its analogue.     

Catalytic asymmetric synthesis of axially chiral o-iodoanilides by phase-transfer catalyzed alkylations

Catalytic asymmetric synthesis of axially chiral o-iodoacrylanilides and N-allyl-o-iodoanilides as useful chiral building blocks was achieved via chiral quaternary ammonium salt-catalyzed N-alkylations under phase-transfer conditions. The transition-state structure for the present reaction is discussed on the basis of the X-ray crystal structure of ammonium anilide.     

Development of highly diastereo- and enantioselective direct asymmetric aldol reaction of a glycinate Schiff base with aldehydes catalyzed by chiral quaternary ammonium salts

A highly efficient direct asymmetric aldol reaction of a glycinate Schiff base with aldehydes has been achieved under mild organic/aqueous biphasic conditions with excellent stereochemical control, using chiral quaternary ammonium salt 1b as a phase-transfer catalyst. The initially developed reaction conditions, using 2 equiv of aqueous base (1% NaOH (aq)), exhibited inexplicably limited general applicability in terms of aldehyde acceptors. The mechanistic investigation revealed the intervention of an unfavorable yet inevitable retro aldol process involving the chiral catalyst. On the basis of this information, a reliable procedure has been established by use of a catalytic amount of 1% NaOH (aq) and ammonium chloride, which tolerates a wide range of aldehydes to afford the corresponding anti-beta-hydroxy-alpha-amino esters almost exclusively in an essentially optically pure form.