Organocatalytic Enantioselective Synthesis of Chiral Diarylmethylamines from Racemic Alcohols

An organocatalytic approach for direct conversion of racemic diarylmethanols to valuable chiral diarylmethylamines is described. Different from the previously reported elegant “borrowing hydrogen” approach, the present process employs a distinct complementary formal S_N1 strategy. This approach enjoys excellent enantioselectivity, mild conditions, broad scope, and easy product derivatization. Mechanistically, control experiments also provided important insights into some notable features, such as substrate kinetic resolution and reversibility as well as the critical role of the ortho‐ hydroxy group in the substrate.     

Basic CuCO3/ligand as a new catalyst for 'on water' borylation of Michael acceptors,alkenes and alkynes: application to the efficient asymmetric synthesis of β‐alcohol type sitagliptin side chain

The efficient 'on water' β‐borylation using bis(pinacolato)diboron agent was achieved with a newly developed catalytic system based on basic copper carbonate and various ligands. The catalytic system was used for β‐borylation of various Michael acceptors, alkenes and alkynes. The presented methodology was successfully applied to the novel synthesis of β‐alcohol type sitagliptin side chain precursor via water‐based highly enantioselective β‐borylation followed by an oxidation process. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Highly Enantioselective,Organocatalytic, and Scalable Synthesis of a Rare cis,cis-Tricyclic Diterpenoid

A highly enantioselective, organocatalytic, and scalable synthesis of a very unusual cis-decalin-cis-hydrindane tricyclic diterpenoid system has been achieved. Despite the prevalent pharmacological space that the related trans,trans and trans,cis-systems occupy, there have been no reports of an asymmetric synthesis of the cis,cis systems in the literature until now. We demonstrate the flexibility of our approach not only through access to a diverse range of products, all of which are attained in exceptionally high selectivities, but also by showing their easy conversion to the corresponding trans,cis-system and other derivatives.     

Efficient Syntheses of Traumatic Lactone and Rhizobialide

Herein, we report the total synthesis of traumatic lactone and rhizobialide by utilizing allenoic acid to construct the lactone ring. The key starting materials, allenoic acids, could be prepared by the ATA (allenation of terminal alkynes) of a terminal alkyne with an aldehyde that contained a protected hydroxyl group followed by hydrolysis. Importantly, the asymmetric synthesis could be realized just by replacing racemic diphenylprinol with (R)- or (S)-diphenylprinol to deliver the optically active allenoate.