Unnatural tripeptide as highly enantioselective organocatalyst for asymmetric aldol reaction of isatins

The development of unnatural tripeptides as highly enantioselective organocatalysts for the asymmetric aldol reaction of isatins was achieved. H-Pro-Gly-d-Ala-OH with the d-alanine residue as the C-terminal amino acid residue expressed the best enantioselectivity. The H-Pro-Gly-d-Ala-OH-catalyzed reaction of isatins gave various aldol adducts with up to 93% yield and up to 97% ee. Investigation of the transition state via DFT calculation revealed that high optical purity was realized by the d-alanine controlled steric environment.     

New N-terminal prolyl-dipeptide derivatives as organocatalysts for direct asymmetric aldol reaction

A series of new N-terminal prolyl-dipeptide derivatives have been synthesized and evaluated as organocatalysts for the direct asymmetric aldol reaction of acetone with electron-deficient aromatic aldehydes. At room temperature, the presence of 10 mol % of catalysts 2 and 5 efficiently catalyzes the direct asymmetric aldol reaction to give the aldol adducts with modest to excellent enantiomeric excesses (ee) values, which are up to 96%.     

Chiral Phebox-rhodium complexes as catalysts for asymmetric direct aldol reaction

Chiral bis(oxazolinyl)phenyl-rhodium complexes act as catalysts in the combination of AgOTf for direct aldol reaction of ketones and aromatic aldehydes to give the corresponding β-hydroxyketones in high anti-selectivity and a good to high enantioselectivity up to 91% ee.     

A recyclable non-immobilized siloxy serine organocatalyst for the asymmetric direct aldol reaction

A recyclable siloxy-l-serine organocatalyst has been developed to catalyze asymmetric direct aldol reactions in [bmim][BF₄], furnishing the β-hydroxy carbonyl scaffold in high enantio- and diastereoselectivities using a selection of aromatic aldehydes and cycloalkanes. The siloxy serine organocatalyst in the ionic liquid can be reused for up to four successive cycles with comparable enantioselectivities.     

Development of bis-thiourea-type organocatalyst for asymmetric Baylis-Hillman reaction

A new chiral bis-thiourea-type organocatalyst 2 developed for the Baylis-Hillman reaction provided a drastic rate enhancement. Allylic alcohols were obtained with up to 90% ee in the case of cyclohexanecarboxaldehyde (4i).     

Rationally designed 4-phenoxy substituted prolinamide phenols organocatalyst for the direct aldol reaction in water

A rationally designed 4-phenoxy substituted prolinamide phenols as an efficient hydrophobic organocatalyst for direct asymmetric aldol reaction in water has been developed. High yield (up to 99%), diastereoselectivity (up to 99:1), and enantioselectivity (up to 97%) were obtained under optimal condition. The influence of substituent groups on the reactivity of catalysts was studied in detail.     

Rationally designed organocatalyst for direct asymmetric aldol reaction in the presence of water

A rationally designed organocatalyst for direct asymmetric aldol reaction in the presence of water has been developed. High yield (up to 99%), diastereoselectivity (up to 99:1) and enantioselectivity (up to 97%) were obtained under optimal conditions.     

Chiral spiroborate esters catalyzed highly enantioselective direct aldol reaction

Asymmetric catalysis of chiral spiroborate esters with an O₃BN framework toward the direct aldol reaction of acetone and aromatic aldehydes was examined, and a new, efficient chiral catalyst was discovered. In the presence of the novel catalyst, acetone was allowed to react with aromatic aldehydes at 0 °C for 50 h to afford chiral β-hydroxyketone in up to >99% ee and 92% yield. The catalyst, which is readily synthesized, is highly stable to hydrolysis, thermolysis, oxidation, and racemization, can be conveniently recovered.     

Reusable montmorillonite-entrapped organocatalyst for asymmetric Diels-Alder reaction

A chiral organocatalyst was successfully entrapped by montmorillonite clay using the cation-exchange method. The mont-entrapped organocatalyst acted as a highly efficient and reusable heterogeneous catalyst for the asymmetric Diels-Alder reaction, without loss of its initial activity.     

Application of high pressure, induced by water freezing, to the direct asymmetric aldol reaction

High pressure, induced by water freezing, has been successfully applied to the direct catalytic asymmetric aldol reaction, in which higher yield and better enantioselectivity can be realized than in the reaction at room temperature under 0.1 MPa.     

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.     

壳聚糖负载辛可宁催化剂的制备及其在水中催化不对称Aldol反应

以丁二酸酐为连接臂,经两步反应制备了壳聚糖负载辛可宁有机催化剂(CTS-SA-CN),并研究了CTS-SA-CN在水体系中对酮与多种芳香醛的直接不对称aldol反应的催化性能。结果表明,在CTS-SA-CN催化下,酮与多种芳香醛发生直接不对称aldol反应,可得到99%的产率和96%的ee值。另外, CTS-SA-CN可通过简单过滤实现回收,重复使用5次活性并没有明显下降。     

Silicon tetrachloride in organic synthesis: new applications for the vinylogous aldol reaction

This paper describes a novel and efficient methodology for vinylogous aldol reactions based on SiCl₄ catalysis. According to the nucleophilicity Mayr's scale, vinylogous aldol reaction of Chan's diene proved to be effective by using catalytic amount of SiCl₄, without any other promoter. On the contrary, the SiCl₄/Lewis base system has been conveniently exploited for the efficient and selective vinylogous reaction of less nucleophilic Danishefsky's diene and 2-trimethylsilyloxyfuran (TMSOF). Indeed, a number of Lewis bases, such as sulfoxides, formamides and phosphoramides have been successfully used as SiCl₄ promoters. TMSOF and silyloxydienes, resulting from 2,2,6-trimethyl-[1,3]-dioxin-4-one derivatives, required stoichiometric amount of SiCl₄, while vinylogous aldol reaction of Chan's and Danishefsky's dienes took satisfactorily place in the presence of catalytic or sub-stoichiometric amount of catalyst.     

壳聚糖负载辛可宁催化剂的制备及其在水中催化不对称Aldol反应

以丁二酸酐为连接臂,经两步反应制备了壳聚糖负载辛可宁有机催化剂(CTS-SA-CN),并研究了CTS-SA-CN在水体系中对酮与多种芳香醛的直接不对称aldol反应的催化性能。结果表明,在CTS-SA-CN催化下,酮与多种芳香醛发生直接不对称aldol反应,可得到99%的产率和96%的ee值。另外, CTS-SA-CN可通过简单过滤实现回收,重复使用5次活性并没有明显下降。     

Carbohydrate-based organocatalysts in direct asymmetric aqueous aldol reaction

Aldol reaction involving chiral amines as organocatalysts through enamine formation, like class-I aldolases, is one of the thriving areas of general interest and widely applicable asymmetric reactions. There are many natural and synthetic chiral templates known to work as efficient organocatalysts, but using carbohydrate templates for chiral induction in asymmetric aldol reactions is a relatively new area developed in the recent years. This review focuses on carbohydrates alone or their conjugates with previously known chiral moieties as organocatalysts for asymmetric aldol reactions.     

Highly enantioselective aza-Morita-Baylis-Hillman reaction with a bisphenol-based bifunctional organocatalyst

Newly developed phosphino-bisphenol 1c was found to be an efficient organocatalyst for the aza-Morita-Baylis-Hillman reaction. High enantioselectivity up to 96% ee was obtained with catalyst loading of 1 mol %.     

Inherently chiral calix[4]arene-based bifunctional organocatalysts for enantioselective aldol reactions

Two optical pure m-dimethylamino substituted inherently chiral calix[4]arene derivatives 8a and 8b bearing an l-prolinamido group have been synthesized by two routes, and structurally studied by the usual spectroscopic methods and X-ray crystallographic analysis. It was found that both of 8a and 8b could be utilized as bifunctional organocatalysts to efficiently promote the aldol reactions between aromatic aldehydes and ketones in the presence of acetic acid. Especially, with 8a as the catalyst, the reaction between 4-nitrobenzaldehyde and cyclopentanone at −20 °C gave the anti-aldol product up to 94% ee, while the anti-aldol product in up to 94:6 dr and 79% ee was obtained when 4-cyanobenzaldehyde was used as the aldol donor. Moreover, it was also demonstrated that the inherently chiral calixarene skeleton with (cS)-conformation in 8a was identified as the matched configuration of the stereogenic elements, and the inherently chiral moiety might play an important role in helping to stereocontrol the reaction.     

Construction of anti-1,2-diols bearing chiral tertiary alcohol moiety using free hydroxyacetone as aldol donor by imidazole-based prolineamide catalyst

A direct aldol reaction of free hydroxyacetone and activated ketone has been firstly achieved with a newly developed imidazole-based prolineamide catalyst. The adducts anti-1,2-diols bearing a chiral tertiary alcohol moiety were obtained in high yield (up to 92%) and stereoselectivity (up to 15:1 dr and 90% ee).     

Catalytic enantioselective intermolecular reductive aldol reaction to ketones

We describe the first example of a catalytic enantioselective intermolecular reductive aldol reaction. Three types of reactions were studied: (1) reactions between acetophenone and methyl acrylate; (2) reactions between symmetric ketones and β-substituted α,β-unsaturated esters; and (3) reactions between acetophenone derivatives and an allenic ester. Although only moderate enantioselectivity was obtained in the first reaction type, high to excellent enantioselectivity was realized in the enantio-induction at the α-position in the second reaction type and at the δ-position in the third reaction type. Specifically, the third reaction type afforded the corresponding tertiary alcohols with up to 99% ee. Pre-activation of the nucleophile by silyl enolate formation is not necessary in these one-pot catalytic enantioselective reductive aldol reactions.