Magnesium iodide promoted reactions of nitrones with cyclopropanes: a synthesis of tetrahydro-1,2-oxazines

Anhydrous magnesium iodide (MgI(2)) is shown to be an effective promoter of the "homo 3+2" dipolar cycloaddition of nitrones with 1,1-cyclopropane diesters. In almost all cases the products tetrahydro-1,2-oxazines are formed in excellent yields. The reactions are highly diastereoselective for a cis relationship between the substitutents at the 3- and 6-positions on the tetrahydrooxazine ring. As an alternative to using a preformed nitrone, the reaction may be performed in a 3-component sense by combining an aldehyde, an hydroxylamine, and the cyclopropane in the presence of catalytic MgI(2).     

Sc(OTf)3-catalyzed diastereoselective Friedel-Crafts reactions of arenes and hetarenes with 3-phenylglycidates

Five different para-substituted 3-phenylglycidates (3-phenyloxirane-2-carboxylates) were prepared and subjected to reactions with arenes and hetarenes under Lewis acid catalysis. Sc(OTf)(3) was found to effectively (5 mol%) promote a Friedel-Crafts reaction in nitromethane as the solvent. The reaction was shown to proceed stereoconvergently, which makes the intermediacy of a benzylic cation likely. The diastereoselectivities varied depending on the choice of the nucleophile and 3-arylglycidate. Best results were obtained with tert-butyl 3-anisylglycidate, which delivered the respective products with high syn-preference in diastereomeric ratios (d.r.) between 82 : 18 and >95 : 5. The observed selectivity can be explained by a model, according to which the intermediate benzylic cations adopt a preferred conformation, which allows for diastereoface-differentiation by the adjacent stereogenic center.     

Sc(OTf)3-catalyzed or t-BuOK promoted tandem reaction of 2-(2-(alkynyl)benzylidene)malonate with indole

Tandem reaction of 2-(2-(alkynyl)benzylidene)malonate with indole was investigated. (Z)-1-Benzylidene-3-(1 H-indol-1-yl)-1 H-indene-2,2(3 H)-dicarboxylate was generated in the presence of t-BuOK at room temperature; whereas 3-((1 H-indol-3-yl)(2-(alkynyl)aryl)methyl)-1 H-indole was obtained when Sc(OTf)3 was utilized as catalyst at 50 degrees C.     

Convenient access to polysubstituted 1-indanones by Sc(OTf)3-catalyzed intramolecular Friedel-Crafts acylation of benzyl Meldrum's acid derivatives

[reaction: see text] The intramolecular Friedel-Crafts acylation of benzyl Meldrum's acids is catalyzed by Sc(OTf)(3) under mild reaction conditions. Several polysubstituted 1-indanones have been prepared.     

Facile Sc(OTf)3-catalyzed generation and successive aromatization of isobenzofuran from o-dicarbonylbenzenes

Isobenzofuran can be prepared from o-phthalaldehyde using hydrosilane. The formed isobenzofuran is trapped by an alkene via a Diels-Alder reaction. Further dehydration proceeds to furnish the conjugated aromatic compound. This multistep reaction was promoted by catalytic amounts of Sc(OTf)(3).     

Manganese(i)-catalyzed access to 1,2-bisphosphine ligands

Chiral bisphosphine ligands are of key importance in transition-metal-catalyzed asymmetric synthesis of optically active products. However, the transition metals typically used are scarce and expensive noble metals, while the synthetic routes to access chiral phosphine ligands are cumbersome and lengthy. To make homogeneous catalysis more sustainable, progress must be made on both fronts. Herein, we present the first catalytic asymmetric hydrophosphination of α,β-unsaturated phosphine oxides in the presence of a chiral complex of earth-abundant manganese(i). This catalytic system offers a short two-step, one-pot synthetic sequence to easily accessible and structurally tunable chiral 1,2-bisphosphines in high yields and enantiomeric excess. The resulting bidentate phosphine ligands were successfully used in asymmetric catalysis as part of earth-abundant metal based organometallic catalysts.

Chiral bisphosphine ligands are of key importance in transition-metal-catalyzed asymmetric synthesis of optically active products. Mn(i)-catalyzed hydrophosphination offers a two-step, one-pot synthetic sequence to access chiral 1,2-bisphosphines.

The vast majority of important catalytic transformations make use of very effective catalysts based on scarce, expensive and toxic noble transition metals and phosphine containing ligands that, especially when chiral, are often as expensive as the noble metals themselves due to their cumbersome synthetic accessibility.¹ The past decade has witnessed significant progress towards the development of competitive catalysts that contain earth-abundant transition metals instead. These catalysts, however, still frequently rely on the use of chiral phosphine ligands. Bisphosphine ligands (Scheme 1A) for instance Pyrphos,^2a Chiraphos,^2b as well as Josiphos^2c are among the most successful chiral ligands used in homogeneous catalysis. In recent years, bis(phosphine) monoxide compounds such as Bozphos,^2d and Binap(o)^2e have been shown to be powerful ligands in asymmetric catalysis as well. Unfortunately, the synthesis of these frequently and successfully used chiral phosphine-based ligands often requires stoichiometric amounts of chiral auxiliaries, enantiopure substrates, or separation by resolution to obtain them enantiomerically pure.^1b–fOpen in a separate windowScheme 1(A) Examples of phosphine ligands commonly used in homogeneous catalysis. (B) Catalytic asymmetric hydrophosphination of various Michael acceptors. (C) This work: Mn (i)-catalyzed access to chiral 1,2-bisphosphines.Catalytic asymmetric hydrophosphination is one of the most straightforward approaches for generating optically active P-chiral or C-chiral phosphines, from which chiral ligands can be derived.³ The potential of hydrophosphination reactions to access enantioenriched chiral phosphines catalytically was demonstrated for the first time by Glueck and coworkers in 2001 using a catalytic system based on Pt and the chiral bisphosphine ligand Me-DuPhos.⁴ Following the publication of this initial work, precious noble metal complexes such as chiral Pd or Pt catalysts have been widely used in the field of asymmetric hydrophosphination (Scheme 1B).⁵ Only few examples utilizing earth-abundant metals such as Ni,⁶ Cu⁷ and very recently Mn⁸ have been reported to date for catalytic asymmetric hydrophosphination. Apart from metal based catalytic systems, examples of asymmetric organocatalytic hydrophosphination reactions were also presented in the literature.⁹ So far, all successful methods that rely on the addition of phosphines to α,β-unsaturated conjugated systems provide chiral monophosphines.³ Interestingly, the only reported example of catalytic hydrophosphination that allows access to chiral 1,2-bisphosphine ligands utilizes a Michael acceptor with a P-containing electron-withdrawing group.^7bWhile α,β-unsaturated phosphine oxides are bench stable and readily available Michael acceptors, their application is less common when compared to conventional carbonyl based Michael acceptors, which is in part due to their lower reactivity.¹⁰ Yin and co-workers found an elegant solution to this problem by transforming α,β-unsaturated phosphine oxides into phosphine sulphides. This allows a ‘soft–soft’ interaction to be established between the Cu(i) atom of the chiral Cu(i)-catalyst and the S atom of the phosphine sulphide, enabling catalytic hydrophosphination towards the synthesis of chiral bisphosphines.^7b While successful in applying this strategy for catalytic synthesis of variety of chiral bisphosphines, nevertheless it requires 6-steps synthetic sequence starting from α,β-unsaturated phosphine oxides (Scheme 1C).^7bHerein, we present a highly efficient, short and scalable catalytic protocol for the synthesis of chiral 1,2-bisphosphines from readily available, bench stable α,β-unsaturated phosphine oxides employing Mn(i)-catalyzed hydrophosphination as its core transformation (Scheme 1D).The last five years witnessed remarkable success of Mn(i)-complexes as catalysts for reductive transformations of carbonyl compounds including asymmetric variants.^11–13 Next to these reports, we have recently demonstrated that such complexes are capable of catalytic H–P bond activation of diarylphosphines.⁸ Based on these findings we hypothesised that Mn(i)-complexes should be able to bring the phosphine oxide and the phosphine reagents into closer proximity thus allowing the hydrophosphination reaction to take place directly with α,β-unsaturated phosphine oxides. This approach would avoid the additional synthetic steps and purifications procedures necessitated by the installation and removal of the sulphur atom that are intrinsic to the method utilising phosphine sulphides.At the outset of this work, bench-stable α-substituted α,β-unsaturated phosphine oxide 1a was chosen as the model substrate in the reaction with HPPh₂ (i)-complex, Mn(i)-L, developed by Clark and co-workers13a,d for hydrogenation and transfer hydrogenation of carbonyl compounds, was selected as the chiral catalyst. After extensive optimization, the reaction with 5 mol% t-PentOK, 2.5 mol% Mn(i)-L, 1.05 equiv. of HPPh₂ in toluene at room temperature for 16 hours was found to be optimal. Under these conditions, the product 3aa was obtained with 96% isolated yield and over 99% ee (entry 1).Optimization of the reaction conditions^a

Bi(OTf)3-catalyzed cycloisomerization of aryl-allenes

Intramolecular hydroarylation of allenes was achieved under very mild conditions using bismuth(III) triflate as the catalyst. Efficient functionalization of activated and nonactivated aromatic nuclei led to C-C bond formation through a formal Ar-H activation. A tandem bis-hydroarylation of the allene moiety was also developed giving access to various interesting polycyclic structures.     

Sc(OTf)3-catalyzed smooth tandem [3+2] cycloaddition/ring opening of donor-acceptor cyclopropane 1,1-diesters with enol silyl ethers

Catalyzed by Lewis acids, donor-acceptor cyclopropane 1,1-diesters reacted with enol silyl ethers to afford 1,6-dicarbonyl compounds in moderate to excellent yields. This supplied a mild carbon-carbon bond-forming method from the ring opening of cyclopropanes. A smooth tandem [3+2] cycloaddition/ring opening process has been clearly proved by an independent experiment.     

Efficient synthesis of isochromanones and isoquinolines via Yb(OTf)3-catalyzed tandem oxirane/aziridine ring opening/Friedel-Crafts cyclization

The first example of Yb(OTf)(3)-catalyzed tandem ring opening/Friedel-Crafts cyclization of oxiranyl and aziridinyl ketones via selective C-C bond cleavage under mild conditions was developed. Isochromanones and isoquinolines are formed in reasonable yields, which often serve as building blocks for complex chemical synthesis.     

Sc(OTf)3-catalyzed indolylation of 1,2-allenic ketones: controlled highly selective synthesis of beta-indolyl-alpha,beta-unsaturetated (E)-enones and beta,beta-bisindolyl ketones

[reaction: see text] A novel highly stereoselctive synthesis of beta-indolyl-alpha,beta-unsaturated (E)-enones by the hydroindolylation of the beta,gamma-C=C bond of 1,2-allenic ketones in the presence of 5 mol % Sc(OTf)(3) was developed. beta,beta-Bisindolyl ketones were prepared by using 2.5 equiv of indoles. A stepwise protocol for introducing different indoles was also established.     

Sc(OTf)3-Catalyzed [3+2]-cycloaddition of aziridines with nitriles under solvent-free conditions

[3+2]-Cycloaddition of aziridines with various nitriles in the absence of organic solvent catalyzed by Sc(OTf)₃ afforded the corresponding imidazolines in good to excellent yields under extremely mild reaction conditions.     

Ga(OTf)3-catalyzed direct substitution of alcohols with sulfur nucleophiles

It is reported that Ga(OTf)(3) catalyzes the direct displacement of alcohols with sulfur nucleophiles. The products are versatile intermediates that can be utilized in carbon-carbon, carbon-sulfur bond formation or used in modified Julia olefination reactions. The only byproduct generated is water.     

Hg(OAc)(2).0.1Sc(OTf)(3)-catalyzed cycloisomerization of 2-(4-pentynyl)furan

[structure: see text]. Although the Hg(OTf)2.3TMU-catalyzed Friedel-Crafts-type reaction of 3-(4-pentynyl)furan afforded the exo cyclization product, the reaction of 2-(4-pentynyl)furan furnished a very low yield. We found a 10:1 mixed reagent of Hg(OAc)2 and Sc(OTf)3 showed remarkable catalytic activity for the latter transformation. The actual reacting species is presumed to be Hg(OAc)(OTf), which is efficiently generated in situ by mixing the two reagents.     

Sc(OTf)3-catalyzed synthesis of indoles and SnCl4-mediated regioselective hydrochlorination of 5-(arylamino)pent-3-yn-2-ones

Highly substituted indole derivatives bearing alkyl and aryl moieties can be prepared by Sc(OTf)(3)-catalyzed Friedel-Crafts alkenylation of 5-(arylamino)pent-3-yn-2-ones. In addition, a method for regioselective hydrochlorination of 5-(arylamino)pent-3-yn-2-ones mediated by SnCl(4) in moderate to good yields (up to 84%) has been developed. The resulting exclusive Z-selectivity of the C-Cl bond can be further exploited using cross C-N coupling reactions.     

Yb(OTf)3-catalyzed synthesis of pyrroles under solvent-tree conditions

Ayb(Otf)3-catalyzed approach for the synthesis of pyrroles under solvent-free conditions was achieved,which could afford the desired products with yields ranged from moderate to excellent.     

Nd(OTf)3-catalyzed intramolecular-intermolecular cascade cyclization reaction: An access to phenanthro[9,10-b]furan derivatives

An intramolecular-intermolecular cascade cyclization reaction via multi metal-carbene intermediates has been developed. This reaction uses catalytic amount of Nd(OTf)₃, which actives both alkyne and aldehyde moieties. This protocol provides a novel strategy for the synthesis of phenanthro[9,10-b]furans.     

Imination of sulfoxides mediated by IBX with Sc(OTf)3 as catalyst

Herein we utilized, for the first time, 2-iodoxybenzoate along with scandium triflate as a specific oxidant for PhthNH₂ to create sulfoximines. This method efficiently effects imination of aryl, benzyl, cyclic and alkyl substituted S?O bonds with good to excellent yields. In addition, sterically encumbered sulfoxides have been studied and found that the present protocol is the worthy choice. This facile method does not require either inert atmosphere or anhydrous solvents.