New auxiliaries for copper-catalyzed asymmetric Michael reactions: generation of quaternary stereocenters at room temperature

Dialkyl amides of L-valine, L-isoleucine, and L-tert-leucine (2) are excellent chiral auxiliaries for the construction of quaternary stereocenters at ambient temperature. Enaminoesters 3, prepared from these auxiliaries 2 and Michael donors 1, undergo a copper-catalyzed asymmetric Michael reaction with methyl vinyl ketone (MVK, 4) to afford products 5 in 70-90% yield and 90-99% ee (enantiomeric excess). The exclusion of moisture or oxygen is not necessary. The auxiliaries 2 are readily available by standard procedures. After workup they can be recovered almost quantitatively.     

Molecular-level chiral discrimination and induction

The review describes the mechanism of chiral discrimination of racemic amines upon crystallization and the induction of chirality in organic reactions by using them as chiral auxiliaries. In order to form conglomerates, which can be resolved into the two enantiomers upon alternative seeding, both formation and packing of 2₁-columns are essentially very important. On the other hand, in order to achieve high efficiency in resolution through diastereomeric salt formation, which is the most practical method, one of a pair of diastereomeric salts derived from a racemic amine and an enantiomerically pure resolving agent should at least have two 2₁-columns and planar boundary surfaces in its crystal structure. On the basis of this knowledge, we developed several artificial chiral auxiliaries such as erythro-2-amino-1,2-diphenylethanol,cis-2-amino-1-acenaphthenol, andcis-2-amino-3,3-dimethyl-1-indanol. These were found to be very efficient chiral auxiliaries in asymmetric inductions: alkylation of chiral imines, catalytic borane-reduction, and alkylation of chiral N-acylated oxazolidinone.     

Synthesis of two (S)-indoline-based chiral auxiliaries and their use in diastereoselective alkylation reactions

Two chiral auxiliaries, 2-[(S)-indolin-2-yl]propan-2-ol 1a and (S)-2-(2-methoxypropan-2-yl)indoline 1b, were synthesised from enantiomerically pure (S)-indoline-2-carboxylic acid 3. High diastereoselectivities in alkylations of enolates of the propanoylamides derived from the two auxiliaries are presented. Surprisingly, both auxiliaries induced the same selectivity at the newly created stereogenic centre. The benzyl bromide and n-butyl iodide alkylation reactions showed diastereomeric ratios that were moderate (81:19) to very good (96:4) and with very good yields (86–98%). When LiCl was used as an enolate coordinating agent, in the benzylation of the enolate from propanoylated auxiliary 1a, a very high crude diastereomeric ratio was obtained (99.7:0.3).     

Convenient approach to chiral 4-monosubstituted 1,3-oxazolidine-2-thiones

Chiral 4-monosubstituted 1,3-oxazolidine-2-thiones are regarded as one of the modified version of Evans auxiliaries in asymmetric aldol condensation, which can generate two adjacent chiral carbon centers in one time They have advantages over Evans auxiliaries in some aspects, however, their application is highly limited by their preparation approaches as toxic or flammable chemicals are involved. Here, a mild and applicable procedure for preparing the chiral oxazolidine-2-thione auxiliaries has been developed in this article. Potassium ethylxanthate and the corresponding chiral amino alcohols as the starting material in absolute ethanol are mixed and the mixture are heated under reflux for 1?h in open air to provide 1,3-oxazolidine-2-thiones chiral auxiliaries in moderate to excellent yields.     

Asymmetric Diels–Alder addition of cyclopentadiene to chiral naphthoquinones

Diels–Alder reactions of 1,4-naphthoquinones bearing a chiral auxiliary at C-2, with cyclopentadiene under Lewis acid conditions afforded the corresponding Diels–Alder adducts. High levels of diastereomeric excess were obtained using (R)-pantolactone, (S)-N-methyl-2-hydroxysuccinimide and trans-2-phenylcyclohexanol as auxiliaries. Moderate asymmetric induction was achieved using Oppolzer's camphorsultam and (R)-(+)-4-benzyl-2-oxazolidinone as auxiliaries. X-Ray crystallographic analysis of the pantolactone adduct enabled determination of the stereochemistry of all adducts obtained.     

New chiral NiII complexes of Schiff’s bases of glycine and alanine for efficient asymmetric synthesis of α-amino acids

New modified chiral auxiliaries (S)-N-(2-benzoylphenyl)-1-(2-chlorobenzyl)pyrrolidine-2-carboxamide (2-CBPB) and (S)-N-(2-benzoylphenyl)-1-(3,4-dimethylbenzyl)pyrrolidine-2-carboxamide (3,4-DMBPB) and their Ni^II complexes of Schiff’s base with glycine and alanine have been synthesized and tested in asymmetric C-alkylation and aldol condensation reactions of amino acid moieties. The tests proved that both new auxiliaries were efficient with the ee’s of the final amino acids as high as 98% even in case of α-methyl-α-amino acid synthesis.     

Asymmetric synthesis with diphenylphosphine oxides: Bicyclic aminals and oxazolidines as chiral auxiliaries

Syntheses of six novel phosphine oxide chiral auxiliaries are described. The auxiliaries are composed of the diphenylphosphinoyl (Ph₂PO) group and either proline-derived bicyclic aminals or norephedrine-derived oxazolidines. One auxiliary is used in the synthesis of an optically active β-hydroxy phosphine oxide.     

Phosphonylation of 1,3-Diaryl-2,3-dihydro1H-naphth[1,2-e][1,3]oxazine by Dialkyl and Diaryl Phosphonates

The possibility of using of easily available 1-(α-aminobenzyl)-2-naphthols as chiral auxiliaries in the synthesis of non-racemic α-aminophosphonates has been shown.     

A Novel Method for the Resolutiou of (±)-1, l'-Bi-2-naphthol and Synthesis of 2,2′-Unsymmetrically Substituted Chiral Binaphthyls

Enantioimerically pure 1, l'-bi-2-naphthol (BINOL) 1 and its derivatives are important chiral ligands and auxiliaries for a number of asymmetric transformations1 such as aldol condensations, alkylations, Diels-Alder reactions, Michael additions, epoxidations, etc. Optically pure 1 and their derivatives have also been used extensively in chiral recognition, chiral separation and in the construction of functionalised materials2. Furthermore, (R)-and (S)-BINOL are also fundamental starting materials for the synthesis of a large variety of other chiral binaphthyls such as MOP (2c), NOBIN (2d) and BINAP (2e). As a result the development of efficient and economic methods for the preparation of optically pure 1 has attracted much attention in recent years3 and novel methods for the resolution of( ±)-1 continue to be developed.     

Cyclohydrocarbonylation-based strategy toward poly-substituted piperidines

Convenient accesses to enantiomerically pure 2-, 2,3-, 2,6-, 2,3,6-substituted piperidines and 1,4-substituted indolizine are described. At first, indium-mediated aminoallylation and -crotylation of aldehydes with (R)-phenylglycinol or (1R,2S)-1-amino-2-indanol gave homoallylamines with high stereocontrol. Then, these products, submitted to a Rh(I)-catalyzed hydroformylative cyclohydrocarbonylation, afforded perhydrooxazolo[3,2-a]piridines whose oxazolidines are opened with nucleophiles. Finally, the removal of the chiral auxiliaries delivered the enantiomerically pure piperidines.     

Sterically constrained 'roofed' 2-thiazolidinones as excellent chiral auxiliaries

The "roofed" chiral 2-thiazolidinones, which are sterically congested and conformational rigid, and which are prepared by the [4+2] cycloaddition of 2-thiazolone to the cyclic dienes, dimethylanthracene and hexamethylcyclopentadiene, followed by optical resolution with (1S,2R)-2-methoxy-1-apocamphanecarbonic acid (MAC acid) are of considerable promise for use as chiral auxiliaries for the alkylation of enolates.     

Menthone and p-menthyl-3-carboxaldehyde as chiral auxiliaries

Two chiral auxiliaries and the role they play in the preparation of chiral carbonyl compounds and heterocyclic compounds are presented. Key reactions include S(N)2' displacements, Mitsunobu with hydrazoic acid, and 3,3-sigmatropic rearrangements. One of the auxiliaries serves many functions and is removed either by oxidative cleavage or RCM reaction.     

Application of new chiral auxiliaries,trans-2-(N-arylsulfonyl-N-benzyl)cyclohexanols,in an asymmetric radical cyclization

New chiral auxiliaries, trans-2-(N-arylsulfonyl-N-benzyl)cyclohexanols, were prepared and applied to an asymmetric radical cyclization.     

Imidazolidin-2-ones as practical, efficient chiral auxiliaries in Diels-Alder reactions

The readily prepared (4R,5S)-1,5-dimethyl-4-phenylimidazolidin-2-one and its 4-cyclohexyl analogue proved to be very powerful face-selective auxiliaries in catalysed Diels-Alder cycloadditions of their ,β-unsaturated N-acyl dienophile derivatives.     

Asymmetric iodolactamization induced by chiral oxazolidine auxiliary

Asymmetric iodolactamization reactions of unsaturated amides with oxazolidines as the chiral auxiliaries were investigated. With (4S)-4-((2R)-2-butyl)-2,2-dimethyloxazolidine as the auxiliary and LiH as the base, a number of unsaturated amides underwent iodolactamization smoothly to afford the corresponding gamma- and delta-lactams in 30-98% yield with de values up to 97%.     

Nafion as an efficient reaction medium for diastereoselective photochemical reactions

The ability of alkali ion exchanged Nafion interior to enhance the influence of chiral auxiliaries in photochemical reactions was examined with three independent asymmetric photoreactions, namely, photoisomerization of trans,trans-2,3-diphenylcyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid derivatives, electro-cyclization of 2-oxo-1,2-dihydropyridine-1-acetic acid derivatives and oxa di-π methane rearrangement of 1,2-dihydro-2,2′-dimethylnapthalenone derivatives. Chiral auxiliaries that lead to 1:1 mixture of diastereomers in organic solvents yielded products in 5-21% diastereomeric excess when the photoreactions were carried out within the nanoclusters of alkali ion exchanged Nafion. The investigated systems also serve as probes to understand the mode of distribution of guest molecules within Nafion framework upon inclusion.     

New Chiral Auxiliaries for Dynamic Kinetic Resolution: From Theory to Experiment

New efficient chiral auxiliaries for dynamic kinetic resolution (DKR) of bromides into amines are proposed, based on a theoretical rationalisation of known literature results. One example was synthesized and tested, affording diastereoselectivities up to 100 %. Several results of DKR reactions are known, based on oxazolidinone or imidazolidinone units as chiral auxiliaries. Nevertheless, their behaviour was not fully understood until a recent paper that we published. We now used our proposed mechanism to rationalize the behaviour of other similar chiral auxiliaries and to propose small structure changes in imidazolidinone rings which could largely improve their performance. We could show that the good performance of these molecules as chiral auxiliaries for DKR reactions where bromine is the leaving group and a primary or secondary amine is the nucleophile is due, in a first step, to the formation of a hydrogen bond between the amine and the ring carbonyl oxygen and, in a second step, to the strong electrostatic interaction between the leaving bromide and the carbonyl oxygen in the C‐3 substituent. Considering the behaviour of this substituent which rotates to minimize the electrostatic repulsion with the bromide when reaching the transition state, we proposed the introduction of a second substituent in the C‐4 position of the imidazolidinone ring, which prevents such rotation, thus increasing the energy difference between the transition states of the two distereoisomers. With such an auxiliary we were able to increase the best de known in literature (88 %), when benzylamine is used as nucleophile, to 99, or even 100 %, when iodide replaces the bromide in the substrate.     

New chiral auxiliaries for dynamic kinetic resolution: from theory to experiment

New efficient chiral auxiliaries for dynamic kinetic resolution (DKR) of bromides into amines are proposed, based on a theoretical rationalisation of known literature results. One example was synthesized and tested, affording diastereoselectivities up to 100%. Several results of DKR reactions are known, based on oxazolidinone or imidazolidinone units as chiral auxiliaries. Nevertheless, their behaviour was not fully understood until a recent paper that we published. We now used our proposed mechanism to rationalize the behaviour of other similar chiral auxiliaries and to propose small structure changes in imidazolidinone rings which could largely improve their performance. We could show that the good performance of these molecules as chiral auxiliaries for DKR reactions where bromine is the leaving group and a primary or secondary amine is the nucleophile is due, in a first step, to the formation of a hydrogen bond between the amine and the ring carbonyl oxygen and, in a second step, to the strong electrostatic interaction between the leaving bromide and the carbonyl oxygen in the C-3 substituent. Considering the behaviour of this substituent which rotates to minimize the electrostatic repulsion with the bromide when reaching the transition state, we proposed the introduction of a second substituent in the C-4 position of the imidazolidinone ring, which prevents such rotation, thus increasing the energy difference between the transition states of the two distereoisomers. With such an auxiliary we were able to increase the best de known in literature (88%), when benzylamine is used as nucleophile, to 99, or even 100%, when iodide replaces the bromide in the substrate.     

Highly diastereoselective preparation of anti-α,β-dialkyl β-amino acids containing natural α-amino acid side chains

An efficient synthesis of anti-2-alkyl β³-amino acids was developed starting from the fully protected β³-amino acids. The strategy allows the introduction of the side chain of natural α-amino acids such as Ala, Phe and Ser at the C-2 position, with high diastereoselectivity. The preparation of 2-methyliden-β³-amino acids is also reported. This methodology does not need the use of expensive chiral reagents and/or chiral auxiliaries, and leads to compounds with orthogonal protecting groups.     

A Comparative Study of the Relative Stability of Representative Chiral and Achiral Boronic Esters Employing Transesterification

A comparative study of the transesterification of five representative chiral and achiral boronic esters with various structurally modified diols was undertaken to qualitatively understand the factors influencing the relative stability of these boronic esters. Several factors such as chelation, conformation, steric bulk of the substituents, size of the heterocycle, and entropy influence the relative rate of transesterification as well as the stability of the boronic esters. Amongst these boronic esters, pinanediol phenylboronic ester was found to be the most stable boronic ester whereas DIPT boronic ester appeared to be thermodynamically the least stable one. The transesterification with sterically hindered diols was observed to be relatively slow, but afforded thermodynamically more stable boronic esters. Boronic esters derived from cis-cyclopentanediols and the bicyclo[2.2.1]heptane-exo,exo-2,3-diols are relatively more stable. This study not only presents the qualitative picture of relative stability of various boronic esters, but also provides helpful hints regarding the possible recovery of chiral auxiliaries. Many C ₂-symmetric chiral auxiliaries, such as 2,3-butanediol, 2,4-pentanediol, DIPT, and cis-cyclohexane-1,2-diol, can be retrieved by simple transesterification of the corresponding boronic esters with commercial inexpensive diols, such as pinacol, 1,3-propanediol, and neopentyl glycol.