Catalytic asymmetric heterogeneous aziridination of styrene derivatives using bis(oxazoline)-modified Cu2+-exchanged zeolite Y

The copper-catalysed aziridination of styrene derivatives using either Cu(OTf)2 as a homogeneous catalyst or copper-exchanged zeolite Y modified as a heterogeneous catalyst with bis(oxazoline) using N-(p-nitrophenylsulfonyl)imino]phenyliodinane (PhI=NNs) as nitrene donor is described and discussed. For the homogeneously catalysed reaction virtually all the substituted derivatives gave lower yields of the aziridine with lower ee when compared with styrene, although 4-chlorostyrene did give enhanced ee. For the heterogeneous catalysed reaction the styrene derivatives often gave enhanced yield, particularly when the substituent was in the 4-position. Particularly high ee was observed for 2-chlorostyrene (95%) and 4-chlorostyrene (94%) and in general the ee observed for the heterogeneously catalysed reaction with the 2- and 4-substituted derivates was significantly higher than that for the equivalent homogeneously catalysed reaction. With copper-exchanged zeolite Y the leaching of Cu2+ into solution during reaction was much lower for the substituted styrene derivatives (0.4-7% of total Cu) than with styrene itself (10.3% of the total Cu). The effect of reaction time on aziridine yield reveals an S-shaped profile that is accentuated by the position of the substituent and this effect is observed for both the homogeneously catalysed pathway and the heterogeneously catalysed reaction. A series of competitive experiments in which styrene was co-reacted with equivalent quantities of 2-, 3- and 4-chlorostyrene revealed that the reaction of styrene enhanced by the other substrate, but the rate of reaction of the substituted styrene was decreased. Co-reaction of 2- and 4-chlorostyrene reveals interesting competitive effects, which are discussed in terms of the nature of the active site.