Enantioselective palladium-catalyzed C(sp2)-H carbamoylation

An enantioselective palladium-catalyzed C(sp²)-H carbamoylation for the preparation of chiral isoindolines was described for the first time. With chiral monophosphorus ligand (R)-AntPhos as the ligand, a series of chiral isoindolines were prepared from diarylmethyl carbamoyl chlorides in excellent yields and enantioselectivities with the palladium loading as low as 1 mol%. Initial mechanistic studies indicated the asymmetric cyclization catalyzed a palladium species with a single chiral monophosphorus ligand.     

A Garratt-Braverman route to isoindolines and phthalans

Garratt-Braverman (GB) cyclization, two CC bond forming reaction in a single step, has been utilized to construct several isoindoline and phthalan derivatives. The precursors were the bispropargyl protected amines and ethers with one of the propargyl arm substituted with an alkene moiety. The GB cyclizations were generally carried out in presence of DBU in refluxing toluene. In case of the bispropargyl amine systems with the alkene arm substituted with electron withdrawing ester group, the cyclization occurred at room temperature. The yields of cyclization ranged from 64 to 86% which are acceptable considering the formation of two CC bonds. The protected isoindolines could be successfully deprotected by treatment with thiophenol in presence of triethyl amine and the corresponding free amines were isolated as the TFA salts.     

Acid-catalyzed cyclization of acyliminium ions derived from allenamides. A new entry to protoberberines

Under mild acidic conditions, N-(ω-phenylalkyl)allenamides can yield stabilized acyliminium ions which through intramolecular aromatic electrophilic substitution furnish 1-vinylisoindolines and isoquinolines. Stereoelectronic and entropic effects in these cyclizations have been evaluated by DFT computations. The 1-vinylisoquinolines obtained have been employed as key intermediates in the synthesis of the protoberberine skeleton.     

Microwave-assisted iridium-catalyzed [2+2+2] cycloaddition of resin-bound dipropargylamine with alkynes

The [Ir(COD)Cl]₂/dppe system effectively catalyzes the solid-phase [2+2+2] cycloaddition of resin-bound dipropargylamine with alkynes under microwave conditions. The reaction results in high purity of isoindoline derivatives with moderate yields.