Lipase-catalyzed asymmetric acylation of boron cluster-containing secondary alcohols

The lipase-catalyzed asymmetric acetylation of secondary alcohols containing a carborane (boron cluster) moiety was investigated. Most lipases examined showed poor catalytic activity toward carborane-containing secondary alcohol 1a, but lipase TL efficiently catalyzed the acetylation of 1a with high enantioselectivity, to afford (R)-3a. This selectivity is similar to that of the general lipase-catalyzed acylation of secondary alcohols. Utilizing lipase TL, we succeeded in the resolution of carborane-containing alcohol 5, synthesized as a progesterone receptor ligand candidate, and evaluated the activities of the two enantiomers.     

(S)-selective dynamic kinetic resolution of secondary alcohols by the combination of subtilisin and an aminocyclopentadienylruthenium complex as the catalysts

A new procedure for the dynamic kinetic resolution (DKR) of racemic alcohols into single enantiomers is described. This procedure employs surfactant-treated subtilisin as an (S)-selective resolving catalyst and an aminocyclopentadienylruthenium complex as a racemizing catalyst. The DKR is performed best in the presence of an acyl donor such as trifluoroethyl butyrate in THF at room temperature. Eight simple secondary alcohols have been efficiently resolved with high optical purities and good yields. The subtilisin-based DKR is complementary in stereoselectivity to its lipase-based counterpart. For an acyl-carrying alcohol, both subtilisin- and lipase-based DKRs have proceeded equally well to give a pair of enantiomeric products (>99.5% ee each) with opposite optical rotations in high yields (94-95%).     

High-yielding metalloenzymatic dynamic kinetic resolution of fluorinated aryl alcohols

Dynamic kinetic resolution (DKR) of various fluorinated aryl alcohols by a combination of lipase-catalyzed enzymatic resolution with in situ ruthenium-catalyzed alcohol racemization is described. (R)-Selective Candida antarctica lipase B (CALB) was employed for transesterification of different fluoroaryl alcohols in DKR reactions delivering the corresponding acetates in high yield (?97%) with excellent enantiomeric excess (?98%).     

Chemoenzymatic synthesis of chiral unsymmetrical benzoin esters

A chemoenzymatic Dynamic Kinetic Resolution (DKR) of unsymmetrical benzoins (Ar¹≠Ar²) has been carried out, by using Pseudomonas stutzeri lipase stereorecognition pattern. After studying this lipase behaviour, a high preference towards acylation of those benzoins containing substituents in the phenyl ring rather than in the benzoyl moiety was observed. This fact allowed the development of the DKR process of this kind of substrates, avoiding the accumulation of secondary products derived from the in situ racemization mediated by Shvo’s catalyst action, and allowing the synthesis of enantiopure unsymmetrical benzoins acetates (not previously described) in very good yields (60-95%) and excellent enantiomeric excess values (always >99%).     

Enantiomeric Separation of Underivatized Aliphatic β-Amino Alcohols by Ligand-exchange Chromatography using N-n-Dodecyl-(1R,2S)-norephedrine as a Coating Reagent for Reversed-phase Column

Underivatized aliphatic β-amino alcohols with a primary or secondary alcohol moiety were separated into enantiomers by high performance liquid chromatography using octadecylsilanized silica coated with N-n-dodecyl-(1R,2S)-norephedrine as the stationary phase and an aqueous solution containing copper(II) and barbital as the mobile phase.     

锡-铟促进和微波辐射辅助下醛和炔丙基溴的炔丙基化反应

A rapid and regioselective preparation of homopropargyl alcohols was reported. In the presence of SnCl2C6HsMe3NBr and microwave irradiation, the mixture of tin-indium and propargyl bromide reacted quickly with aldehydes in aqueous media to produce the homopropargyl alcohols exclusively in high yields. For benzaldehydes bearing different substituents, electronic effect of the substituents affected the reaction, the electron-withdrawing groups promoting the reaction and the electron-donating groups impeding the reaction. The reactions of benzaldehydes bearing an ortho substituent group on the phenyl ring with propargyl bromide may yield a mixture of regioisomers （homopropargyl and homoallenyl alcohols） or a single homoallenic alcohol due to the steric effect.     

Dynamic Kinetic Resolution of Heterobiaryl Ketones by Zinc‐Catalyzed Asymmetric Hydrosilylation

A diastereo‐ and highly enantioselective dynamic kinetic resolution (DKR) of configurationally labile heterobiaryl ketones is described. The DKR proceeds by zinc‐catalyzed hydrosilylation of the carbonyl group, thus leading to secondary alcohols bearing axial and central chirality. The strategy relies on the labilization of the stereogenic axis that takes place thanks to a Lewis acid–base interaction between a nitrogen atom in the heterocycle and the ketone carbonyl group. The synthetic utility of the methodology is demonstrated through stereospecific transformations into either N,N‐ligands or appealing axially chiral, bifunctional thiourea organocatalysts.     

On The Steric Hindrance of Bulky Substituents – Determination of Their Cone Angles

A series of simple halogen compounds was studied with respect to steric hindrance by means of quantum mechanical methods utilizing the M062X/aug‐cc‐pvdz level of theory. The maximal cone angles of the halogen compounds R–E were computed for a series of different substituents (R carbon or silyl based substituents, E = halogen). Depending on the substitution pattern and the bulkiness of the substituent R a correlation between the cone angle and structural parameters is discussed. Estimates for the cone angles of any element attached to R are provided, that allows comparison of cone angles of different substituents at different distances, which can facilitate synthesis. Additionally, the bonding situation was assessed by natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis indicating that significant electronic effects should be considered when changing from silyl to carbon based substituents. Silyl based substituents display a considerably larger charge transfer to E compared to carbon based once.     

Stereocontrolled enantioselective addition of diethylzinc to aldehydes using new chiral aminoalcohols

The new chiral β-aminoalcohols of indolinylmethanols ( 1 ) and their reduced derivatives ( 2 ) were synthesized from (S)-indoline-2-carboxylic acid. Both (R) and (S) enantiomers of the optically active secondary alcohols have been successfully obtained in high enantiomeric excess from the stereoselective addition of diethylzinc to the aldehydes catalyzed by the chiral aminoalcohols ( 1 and 2 ). The sense of the asymmetric induction and the degrees of enantioselectivities turned out to be highly dependent on the structure of the catalysts: The presence of the catalyst 1 afforded the (S)-configuration of the corresponding alcohols; on the other hand, the presence of 2 afforded the (R)-configuration of the alcohols in high enantiomeric selectivity.     

Use of Dimethylsilyl Ethers for Characterizing Primary Aliphatic Alcohols: A comparison of mass spectrometric fragmentation of di- and trimethylsilyl derivatives

Mass spectral fragmentation patterns of dimethylsilyl (DMS) ethers of primary unbranched, branched, and secondary unbranched aliphatic alcohols in the C₅ to C₁₀ range are compared with those of the corresponding trimethylsilyl (TMS) derivatives. Unlike their TMS analogues, DMS ethers of primary alcohols exhibit pronounced rupture of the C? C bond adjacent to the oxygen atom within the alkyl moiety (loss of an alkyl radical R) in marked preference to cleavage within the silyl substituent (loss of CH₃). Within this class of compounds, complementary preparation of DMS derivatives can therefore be used to establish or to confirm the site, and thus the primary nature of the hydroxyl group, whereas preparation of TMS ethers may be of advantage in deducing molecular size. For the derivatives of secondary alcohols this diagnostically useful difference in fragmentation behaviour is not observed.     

Click Chemistry Based Synthesis of Novel Architectures Bearing Sugar Unit at the Pyridothienopyrimidines

Novel conjugates of pyridothienopyrimidinones and carbohydrates or other moieties linked by 1,2,3‐triazoles were synthesized. After establishing the pyridothienopyrimidone ring systems by ring closure, propargyl group was introduced by O‐alkylation or N‐alkylation. Cu‐catalyzed cycloaddition of the propargyl product with azido group gave the corresponding 1,2,3‐triazoles in high yields. A remarkable case of the catalyzed ring closure to build a pyrimidinone moiety with two diastereomers was observed. Theoretical calculations were performed on the studied diastereomers, and it was found that the S‐isomer is more stable than the corresponding R‐isomer by about 2 kcal/mol.     

Origins of Enantiopreference of Mycobacterium smegmatis Acyl Transferase: A Computational Analysis

Acyl transferase from Mycobacterium smegmatis (MsAcT) is a promising biocatalyst because it catalyzes an acyl transfer reaction in aqueous solution, thereby accepting many primary and secondary alcohols as substrates. MsAcT also exhibits high enantioselectivity for a selected number of secondary alcohols. To increase the applicability of this enzyme for the production of optically active compounds, a detailed understanding of the reaction mechanism and the factors that affect enantioselectivity is essential. Herein, quantum chemical calculations are employed to study the reactions of two secondary alcohols, 1-isopropyl propargyl alcohol and 2-hydroxy propanenitrile, for which the enzyme displays opposite enantiopreference, favoring the S enantiomer in the former case and R enantiomer in the latter. A model of the active site has been designed and for both substrates various binding modes are evaluated and the intermediates and transition states along the reaction path are then located. The calculated energy profiles agree with the experimental observations, and reproduce the selectivity outcome. Through a detailed analysis of the geometries of key transition states, insights into the origins of the enantiopreference are obtained.     

Biocatalytic Deracemization of 1,4-Benzodiazepines in the Synthesis of Enantiomerically Pure Serine

An efficient stereocontrolled synthesis of (S)-N-Cbz-serine (Cbz = benzyloxycarbonyl; 12 ) and of its (R)-enantiomer is reported. Kinetic resolution of the easily available racemic 3-(hydroxymethyl)-1,4-benzodiazepin-2-ones is performed in the key step via acetylation by the immobilized Mucor miehei lipase (Lipozyme IM) at 60°. This method is characterized by high enantiomer purity (ee's ges; 99%) of the intermediary alcohols (+)- 8 and (+)- 9 and acetates (?)- 10 and (?)- 11 , as well as of the final products (S)- and (R)-N-Cbz-serine, simple recycling of the biocatalyst, complete recovery of 2-aminobenzophenones ( 3 and 4 ) and their recycling into production of 1,4-benzodiazepines, and possibility to selectively racemize ‘wrong’ enantiomers of the alcohols 8 and 9 in the presence of Amberlite CG 400.     

Racemization of secondary alcohols catalyzed by ruthenium: application to chemoenzymatic dynamic resolution

In this paper, we have shown that the [RuCl₂(p-cymene)]₂ complex associated with simple hemisalen ligands is able to racemize (S)-1-phenylethanol. The influence on the racemization process of the ligand’s structure as well as the nature of a co-catalyst have been evaluated and optimized. This [RuCl₂(p-cymene)]₂/Ligand/TEMPO racemization system was then associated with the Candida Antarctica B lipase in order to carry out dynamic kinetic resolution experiments on rac-phenylethanol. This led us to identify the best conditions for effective DKR, which was then applied to various secondary benzylic and aliphatic alcohols. It was thus possible to obtain (R)-1-cyclohexylethyl acetate from rac-1-cyclohexylethanol in quantitative conversion and with high enantioselectivity (98%).     

Cleavage of C-Si bond by intramolecular nucleophilic attack: lithiation-promoted formation of siloles from 1-bromo-4-trisubstituted silyl-1,3-butadiene derivatives

Lithiation of 1-bromo-4-trisubstituted silyl-1,3-butadiene derivatives with t-BuLi afforded substituted siloles in high yields. Cleavage of one of the three C-Si bonds took place via intramolecular nucleophilic substitution. Selective cleavage was observed when the silyl group possessed different substituents. Results showed that vinyl and phenyl substituents on Si were substituted much more easily than methyl groups, whilst a methyl group was exclusively deleted from an i-Pr-SiMe₂ moiety.     

Lipase-catalyzed resolution of β-hydroxy selenides

Eleven β-hydroxy selenides were kinetically resolved using an immobilized lipase (Amano PS-C II) in toluene in the presence of vinyl acetate at 30 °C. This approach provided, in several cases, both enantiomers in high enantiomeric excess. The role of the size of substituents and the behaviour of cyclic β-hydroxy selenides is also discussed. Enantiopure β-hydroxy selenides are useful building blocks. As an application of this chemistry, enantiopure (1S,2R)-indene oxide was obtained in one step from the proper enantiopure β-hydroxy selenide.     

Nonenzymatic Dynamic Kinetic Resolution of Secondary Alcohols via Enantioselective Acylation: Synthetic and Mechanistic Studies

Because of the ubiquity of the secondary carbinol subunit, the development of new methods for its enantioselective synthesis remains an important ongoing challenge. In this report, we describe the first nonenzymatic method for the dynamic kinetic resolution (DKR) of secondary alcohols (specifically, aryl alkyl carbinols) through enantioselective acylation, and we substantially expand the scope of this approach, vis-à-vis enzymatic reactions. Simply combining an effective process for the kinetic resolution of alcohols with an active catalyst for the racemization of alcohols did not lead to DKR, due to the incompatibility of the ruthenium-based racemization catalyst with the acylating agent (Ac(2)O) used in the kinetic resolution. A mechanistic investigation revealed that the ruthenium catalyst is deactivated through the formation of a stable ruthenium-acetate complex; this deleterious pathway was circumvented through the appropriate choice of acylating agent (an acyl carbonate). Mechanistic studies of this new process point to reversible N-acylation of the nucleophilic catalyst, acyl transfer from the catalyst to the alcohol as the rate-determining step, and carbonate anion serving as the Br?nsted base in that acyl-transfer step.     

(S)‐Selective Kinetic Resolution and Chemoenzymatic Dynamic Kinetic Resolution of Secondary Alcohols

(S)‐Selective kinetic resolution was achieved through the use of a commercially available protease, which was activated with a combination of two different surfactants. The kinetic resolution (KR) process was optimized with respect to activation of the protease and to the acyl donor. The KR proved to be compatible with a range of functionalized sec‐alcohols, giving good to high enantiomeric ratio values (up to >200). The enzymatic resolution was combined with a ruthenium‐catalyzed racemization to give an (S)‐selective dynamic kinetic resolution (DKR) of sec‐alcohols. The DKR process works under very mild reaction conditions to give the corresponding esters in high yields and with excellent enantioselectivities.     

Synthesis of the C6–C18 bis-tetrahydrofuran fragment of the proposed structure of iriomoteolide-2a via stepwise double SN2 cyclization reactions

The C6–C18 bis-tetrahydrofuran (bis-THF) fragment of the proposed structure of iriomoteolide-2a has been synthesized via stepwise double intramolecular S_N2-type etherifications. The C11 and C16 stereogenic centers could be secured in the forms of propargyl alcohols by asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of the corresponding propargyl ketones. The C9–C12 THF ring was first constructed via a tandem asymmetric dihydroxylation (AD)–S_N2 sequence while the C13–C16 THF ring was later installed via an intramolecular S_N2 reaction of a chiral propargyl mesylate. During the latter THF ring formation, epimerization at the propargylic carbon was not observed. Since the initially proposed (9R,11S,12R) configuration of iriomoteolide-2a has recently been revised to (9S,11R,12S), the established synthesis of the C6–C18 bis-THF fragment could be easily amended by using the opposite enantiomers of the chiral ligands for AD and asymmetric transfer hydrogenation.     

Competitive Silyl–Prins Cyclization versus Tandem Sakurai–Prins Cyclization: An Interesting Substitution Effect

Two different mechanism pathways are observed for the reaction of allylsilyl alcohols 1 and aldehydes in the presence of trimethylsilyl trifluoromethanesulfonate (TMSOTf). In the case of allylsilyl alcohols without allylic substituents, the reaction gives dioxaspirodecanes, which are the products of a tandem Sakurai–Prins cyclization. In contrast, allylsilyl alcohols with an allylic substituent (R²≠H) selectively provide oxepanes, thus corresponding to a direct silyl–Prins cyclization. Both types of product are obtained with excellent stereoselectivity. Theoretical studies have been performed to obtain some rationalization for the observed stereoselectivity.