Highly enantioselective Michael additions of α-cyanoacetate with chalcones catalyzed by bifunctional cinchona-derived thiourea organocatalyst

The conjugate addition of ethyl α-cyanoacetate with chalcones has been developed. In the presence of cinchona alkaloid-derived thiourea organocatalyst 1i (10 mol %), ethyl α-cyanoacetate could react with various chalcones to afford Michael adducts with high yields (80–92%) and enantioselectivities (83–95% ee).     

Highly enantioselective aldol reactions catalyzed by a recyclable fluorous (S) pyrrolidine sulfonamide on water

Fluorous (S) pyrrolidine sulfonamide serves as an efficient promoter for highly enantioselective aldol reactions of ketones and aldehydes with aromatic aldehydes on water. A notable feature of the organocatalyst is that it can be recovered from the reaction mixtures by simple fluorous solid-phase extraction and subsequently reused (up to seven cycles) without a significant loss of catalytic activity and stereoselectivity.     

Highly enantioselective phenylacetylene additions to ketones catalyzed by (S)-BINOL-Ti complex

The readily available and inexpensive (S)-BINOL ligand in combination with Ti(O(i)Pr)(4) is an effective chiral catalyst for the catalytic asymmetric addition of alkynylzinc to unactivated simple ketones. Good to excellent enantioselectivities were achieved. No previous case has been reported successfully using BINOL to catalyze the addition of phenylacetylene to unactivated ketones, and thus the utility of BINOL in asymmetric catalysis is expanded.     

Highly enantioselective Michael addition of cyclic ketones to chalcones catalyzed by pyrrolidine-based imides

An efficient procedure for asymmetric Michael addition reaction of cyclic ketones with low activated chalcones catalyzed by pyrrolidine-based phthalimide and 1,8-Naphthalimide catalysts was developed. The corresponding products were obtained in high yields with high diastereoselectivities (up to 99:1 dr) and high enantioselectivities (up to 96% ee) under mild conditions.     

Highly enantioselective Michael addition reactions in water catalyzed by an insoluble MPS-supported 4-sulfonamidyl prolinol tert-butyldiphenylsilyl ether

The development of a highly efficient, insoluble, and non-swelling MPS-supported organocatalyst for the direct asymmetric Michael reaction of ketones and aldehydes to nitrostyrenes at room temperature in water is described. Excellent yields (up to 100%) and high stereoselectivities (up to 94% dr and 93% ee) were achieved with 10 mol % of the catalyst. The resin-bound catalyst was simply separated and recovered by filtration, and reused for six consecutive trials without significant loss of activity and enantioselectivity.     

Highly enantioselective Michael addition of aldehydes to nitroolefins catalyzed by primary amine thiourea organocatalysts

Asymmetric Michael addition reactions of aldehydes to nitroolefins have been successfully initiated by a series of primary amine thiourea bifunctional catalysts, with high enantioselectivities (90-98% ee) and excellent yields (80-96%). The privileged quinine scaffold was found to be essential to the reaction efficiency and enantioselectivity.     

Highly enantioselective conjugate additions to alpha,beta-unsaturated ketones catalyzed by a (salen)Al complex

Chiral (salen)Al complex 1a catalyzes the highly enantioselective conjugate addition of carbon- and nitrogen-based nucleophiles to acyclic alpha,beta-unsaturated ketones. This methodology is tolerant of substantial variation of the ketone structure, providing access to a wide range of useful chiral building blocks in high yield and enantiomeric excess. Synthetic manipulations of the conjugate addition products are demonstrated, including the straightforward preparation of beta-amino ketones and highly enantioenriched carbo- and heterocyclic compounds.     

Highly enantioselective Michael addition of 2-oxindoles to vinyl selenone in RTILs catalyzed by a Cinchona alkaloid-based thiourea

A highly enantioselective Michael addition of 2-oxindoles (1) to vinyl selenone (2) in RTILs catalyzed by a Cinchona alkaloid-based thiourea has been developed in high yields (80-91%) with excellent enantioselectivities (up to 95% ee).     

Highly enantioselective Michael addition of ketones to nitroolefins catalyzed by (S)-pyrrolidine arenesulfonamide

A new type of catalyst for the asymmetric Michael addition reaction has been designed and synthesized. This catalyst, (S)-pyrrolidine arenesulfonamide 1, resulted in high yields (up to 93%), excellent diastereoselectivities (syn/anti ratio up to 99/1), and excellent enantioselectivities (ee up to 99%) for various cyclic ketones and nitroolefins.     

Highly enantioselective carbonyl-ene reactions catalyzed by a hindered silyl-salen-cobalt complex

We report here the enantioselective carbonyl-ene reactions of various 1,1-disubstituted and trisubstituted alkenes with ethyl glyoxylate. The reactions are catalyzed by a new Co-salen complex, in which bulky triisobutylsilyl (TIBS) substituents occupy the positions ortho to the phenolic oxygens. This complex catalyzes the reactions under nearly ideal conditions - at room temperature and using catalyst loadings as low as 0.1 mol % - and provides the chiral, homoallylic alcohol products in excellent yields, enantioselectivities, and diastereoselectivities.     

Highly enantioselective Biginelli reaction catalyzed by SPINOL-phosphoric acids

A highly enantioselective Biginelli reaction promoted by chiral spirocyclic SPINOL-phosphoric acids has been developed. Under the optimized conditions with 5 mol% catalyst loading, a wide range of optically active dihydropyrimidinethiones (DHPMs) were obtained in high yields (up to 98%) with good to excellent enantioselectivities (up to 99% ee). The synthetic utility of this method was demonstrated by the synthesis of chiral precursors of three drugs, including (S)-Monastrol, (S)-L-771688 and (S)-SQ 32926.     

Chiral pyrrolidine quaternary derivatives as organocatalysts for asymmetric Michael additions

A series of chiral pyrrolidine quaternary derivatives were designed and synthesized. It was found that these derivatives are highly efficient organocatalysts for the asymmetric Michael addition reactions of aldehydes and ketones to nitroolefins with high yields (up to 96%), high enantioselectivities (up to 99% ee), and high diastereoselectivities (up to 97:3 dr). Furthermore, catalyst 7a could be recycled without remarkable loss of catalytic activity and stereoselectivity.     

Michael additions in water of ketones to nitroolefins catalyzed by readily tunable and bifunctional pyrrolidine-thiourea organocatalysts

An operationally trivial and environmentally benign procedure for direct Michael addition has been developed. The reaction of various ketones with nitroolefins can be performed in water to afford the corresponding nitro compounds in high yields in the presence of a pyrrolidine-thiourea organocatalyst at 35 °C. The reaction exhibits a high stereoselectivity, with high enantioselectivities (up to 99%) as well as diastereoselectivities (up to 99:1) being achieved under the optimal conditions.     

Michael additions catalyzed by phosphines. An overlooked synthetic method

Triphenylphosphine and tributylphosphine are excellent catalysts for Michael additions. Many β-dicarbonyl compounds and electron-poor olefins, including sterically demanding partners, react successfully. The Michael addition catalyzed by phosphines deserves attention in its own right as a useful synthetic method.     

Highly enantioselective cyanation of aldehydes catalyzed by a multicomponent titanium complex

A new multicomponent bifunctional catalytic system based on a titanium complex was used for the efficient enantioselective cyanation of aldehydes. The catalyst was readily prepared from tetraisopropyl titanate (Ti(Oi-Pr)4), (S)-6,6'-dibromo-1,1'-bi-2-naphthol (1e), cinchonine (2a), and (1R,2S)-(-)-N-methylephedrine (3b). It was revealed that the combination of 1e, 2a, 3b, and Ti(IV) was essential in this cyanation. The reaction proceeded smoothly in the presence of a catalytic amount of the multicomponent catalyst to afford the desired cyanohydrins ethyl carbonates in moderate to excellent isolated yields (up to 95%) with high enantioselectivities (up to 94% ee). A catalytic cycle based on experimental phenomena was proposed to explain the origin of the asymmetric induction.     

Highly enantioselective cyanosilylation of aldehydes catalyzed by a chiral oxazaborolidinium ion

The chiral oxazaborolidinium salts 1 and 2 are excellent catalysts for the enantioselective cyanosilylation of a wide variety of aldehydes (see Table 1) using trimethylsilyl (TMS) cyanide and triphenylphosphine oxide as the source of a new reactive cyanide donor. This donor appears to be the isocyanophosphorane Ph3P(OTMS)(N=C:) (4). The novel process described herein has several advantages: predictability of absolute configuration of cyanohydrin products from a mechanistic model (3), high yields and very good enantiomeric purity of products (>/=90%), and, finally, easy and efficient recovery of the catalytic ligand.