Chemoselective N-acylation of indoles and oxazolidinones with carbonylazoles

Unique reactivity: In the presence of more reactive amine and alcohol functional groups and of carboxylic acids, the chemoselective N-acylation of indoles and oxazolidinones is achieved by taking advantage of the unique reactivity of carbonylazole acylating agents with catalytic amounts of 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU).     

Chemoselective Aza-Michael addition of indoles with 2-arylidenemalononitriles

Abstract

The selective aza-Michael addition at N1-position of indoles to 2-arylidenemalononitriles in the presence of potassium hydroxide is described. The salient features of this protocol are no transition-metal catalysts, mild conditions, high chemoselectivity, high atom economy, high yield and simple work-up procedures.     

Aqueous enantioselective organocatalytic Diels-Alder reactions employing hydrazide catalysts. A new scaffold for organic acceleration

[reaction: see text] Cyclic hydrazides function as asymmetric organocatalysts in aqueous Diels-Alder reactions. The hydrazide is employed as the catalytic machinery in a compact camphor-derived framework that imparts facial selectivity to the cycloadditions. Kinetic evidence suggests the reaction involves rapid iminium formation.     

Ir-catalyzed regio- and enantioselective Friedel-Crafts-type allylic alkylation of indoles

Highly regio- and enantioselective Ir-catalyzed Friedel-Crafts type allylic alkylation of indoles have been realized using [Ir(COD)Cl]2/phosphoramidite ligand 1a, affording the branched products with up to >97/3 branched-linear ratio and 92% ee.     

Catalytic enantioselective oxidation of aromatic hydrocarbons with D4-symmetric chiral ruthenium porphyrin catalysts

The [Ru^II(D₄-Por¹)(CO)(MeOH)] (D₄-H₂Por¹ = tetrakis[(1S,4R,5R,8S)-1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8-octahydro-1,4:5,8-dimethanoanthracen-9-yl]porphyrin) complex 1 is an effective catalyst for asymmetric hydroxylation of aromatic hydrocarbons with 2,6-dichloropyridine N-oxide (Cl₂pyNO) as terminal oxidant. Up to 76% ee was achieved for the catalytic hydroxylation of 4-ethyltoluene, 1,1-diethylindan and benzylcyclopropane. Both electron-donating and -withdrawing substituents were found to accelerate the catalytic oxidation reaction, and a large primary H/D kinetic isotope effect (k_H/k_D = 11 at 298 K) was observed for the catalytic ethylbenzene-d₁₀ oxidation. A mechanism involving rate-limiting hydrogen atom abstraction by reactive oxoruthenium species is postulated.     

Catalytic enantioselective Friedel-Crafts alkylations of indoles with alpha'-phosphoric enones

The C2-symmetric bis(oxazoline) copper(II) complex proves to be an excellent catalyst in the Friedel-Crafts alkylation of indoles with alpha'-phosphoric enones. The enantioselectivities of this reaction are obtained in up to 98% ee.     

Cu-catalyzed oxidation of indoles to isatins

The first example of Cu-catalyzed oxidation of indoles to isatin derivatives by the use of cheap aqueous tert-butyl peroxide as an oxidant was developed. This methodology is practically convenient and highly functional group tolerant, allowing a variety of indole derivatives to transform into the corresponding isatin derivatives in good yields.     

Highly enantioselective Pd-catalyzed allylic alkylation of indoles using Sulfur-MOP ligand

The preparation of various (R)-Sulfur-MOP ligands with aryl and alkyl substituents on sulfur, and the application of these ligands to Pd-catalyzed asymmetric allylic alkylation of indoles is reported. The sulfur substituent served as an effective stereocontrol element, and in the case of the 2-i-PrPh substituent on sulfur, the allylation products from an array of simple and substituted indoles were obtained with high enantioselectivity (up to 95% ee).     

Rhodium(II)-catalyzed enantioselective C-H functionalization of indoles

A catalytic, enantioselective method for the C-H functionalization of indoles by diazo compounds has been achieved. With catalytic amounts of Rh(2)(S-NTTL)(4), the putative Rh-carbene intermediates from α-alkyl-α-diazoesters react with indoles at C(3) to provide α-alkyl-α-indolylacetates in high yield and enantioselectivity. From DFT calculations, a mechanism is proposed that involves a Rh-ylide intermediate with oxocarbenium character.     

Chemoselective epoxidation of dienes using polymer-supported manganese porphyrin catalysts

Manganese porphyrin catalysts supported on different polymer resins were assessed in the selective epoxidation of three dienes. The recyclability of the catalysts was examined.     

Chemoselective oxidation of oleanolic acid derivatives with ozone

A method for preparing methyl esters of 12-oxoolean-28-oic and 3,12-dioxoolean-28-oic acids via ozonolysis of oleanolic acid methyl ester in CH₂Cl₂ at –60°C was proposed. It was found that oxidation of 2-cyano3,4-seco-4(23)-oleanenoic acid was chemoselective depending on the amount of ozone used.     

Chemoselective electrophilic oxidation of heteroatoms by hydroperoxy sultams

The synthesis of novel hydroperoxy sultams 1b-d and their potential as renewable chemoselective electrophilic oxidants for a wide range of nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus heteroatoms in nonaqueous media is described. Reactions of 1b,c with secondary amines 10f,g yielded the hydroxysultams 2b,c and nitrone 11f or radical 11g depending on the substrate and stoichiometry, while tertiary amines 10a-d gave amine oxides 11a-d. Compounds 1c,d oxidized various thioethers 12a-g to sulfoxides 13a-g smoothly that were isolated by chromatography in nearly quantitative yields. 1c was regenerated from 2c by treatment of the latter with acidified H2O2. Kinetic studies of the reaction of 1c with 1,4-thioxane 12f suggest that the reaction follows the second-order kinetics, first order in substrate and first order in oxidant with the second-order rate constant several orders of magnitude larger than that of the corresponding reaction with hydrogen peroxide and tert-butyl hydroperoxide without the need for any acid or heavy metal catalysts. The phosphines 14a,b were also oxidized by 1c to the respective phosphine oxides 15a,b readily in quantitative yields. The reactions may be conducted at ambient temperature or lower and appear to proceed via a nonradical mechanism. Reactions are sensitive to steric as well as electronic factors.     

Catalytic enantioselective Friedel-Crafts/Michael addition reactions of indoles to ethenetricarboxylates

[reaction: see text] The Friedel-Crafts reaction is an important reaction for the formation of new C-C bonds. Recently, catalytic enantioselective Friedel-Crafts reaction of alkylidene malonates has been reported. However, the substituents in alkylidene malonates are limited. To explore new substituents such as carboxyl and carbonyl groups, catalytic enantioselective Friedel-Crafts reactions of reactive ethenetricarboxylates and acyl-substituted methylenemalonates 1 were investigated. The reaction of 1 with indoles in the presence of catalytic amounts of chiral bisoxazoline copper(II) complex (10%) in THF at room temperature gave alkylated products in high yields and up to 95% ee. The enantioselectivity can be explained by the secondary orbital interaction on approach of indole to the less hindered side of the 1-Cu(II)-ligand complex.     

Studies of copper-nickel catalysts for enantioselective hydrogenation

Studies of the effect of preparation conditions on the activity and enantioselectivity of asymmetric Cu–Ni catalysts have revealed their great dependence and two maxima in the dependence of the optical yield on the pH of the modifying solution. Cu–Ni catalysts are shown to have similar catalytic properties in a wide range of their Cu content.

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, Cu–Ni . pH , Cu–Ni .

     

Nitroxyl peptides as catalysts of enantioselective oxidations

The achiral, nitroxyl-containing alpha-amino acid TOAC (TOAC = 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl-4-amino-4-carboxylic acid), in combination with the chiral alpha-amino acid C(alpha)-methyl valine [(alphaMe)Val], was used to prepare short peptides (from di- to hexa-) that induced the enantioselective oxidation of racemic 1-phenylethanol to acetophenone. The best catalyst was an N(alpha)-acylated dipeptide alkylamide with the -TOAC-(alphaMe)Val- sequence folded in a stable, intramolecularly hydrogen-bonded beta-turn conformation with large, lipophilic (hydrophobic) N- and C-terminal blocking groups. We rationalized our findings by proposing models for the diastereomeric intermediates between (R)-[and (S)]-1-phenylethanol and the catalyst Fmoc-TOAC-L-(alphaMe)Val-NHiPr, based on the X-ray diffraction structure of the latter.     

Heterogeneous enantioselective catalysts: strategies for the immobilisation of homogeneous catalysts

Enantioselective formation of C-H, C-C, C-O and C-N bonds has been extensively studied using homogeneous asymmetric catalysts for many years. However, these catalysts have yet to make a significant impact in the industrial synthesis of fine chemicals. A central reason is that homogeneous asymmetric catalyst design requires relatively bulky ligands and catalyst re-use through recovery and recycle often causes problems. One mechanism to overcome this problem is to immobilise the asymmetric catalyst onto a support and the resulting heterogeneous asymmetric catalyst can, in principle, be readily re-used. This tutorial review covers the different methodologies for immobilisation, including: adsorption, encapsulation, tethering using a covalent bond and electrostatic interaction and is aimed at both researchers new to the field and those with a wider interest in the immobilisation of homogeneous catalysts. Most importantly, recent studies will be highlighted that demonstrate that immobilised catalysts can give higher enantioselection when compared with their non-immobilised counterparts and the question of how high enantioselection can be achieved is addressed.     

Zinc-catalyzed aerobic oxidation of benzoins and its extension to enantioselective oxidation

Zn(II)-DABCO complex is used as an efficient catalyst for the aerobic oxidation of benzoins to benzils in the presence of molecular oxygen. Usage of chiral zinc complex as catalyst resulted in enantioselective oxidative kinetic resolution of racemic benzoin to yield enantiomerically enriched benzoins.