The N‐heterocyclic carbene (NHC)‐catalyzed oxidative amidation of aromatic aldehydes with amines in the presence of N‐bromosuccinimide (NBS) as an oxidant has been developed for the synthesis of amides. This amidation strategy is tolerant to both the electronic and the steric nature of the aryl aldehydes employed. The present methodology was extended to chiral amino acid derivatives to generate the corresponding amides in good yields and excellent ee values (>98%).
Herein a practical and efficient protocol for preparing a range of aminoisoquinolines is reported. Various aminoisoquinolines were prepared in moderate to good yields from the corresponding 2‐methylbenzonitriles and benzonitriles upon treatment with potassium tert‐butoxide.
The enantioselective allylation of thiophene‐2‐carbaldehyde with allyltrichlorosilane under Lewis base catalysis has been studied. The use of catalytic amount (1 mol%) of chiral bipyridine N,N′‐dioxides provided the corresponding 1‐(thiophen‐2‐yl)‐but‐3‐en‐1‐ol with asymmetric induction reaching 97% ee. The prepared chiral (S)‐1‐(thiophen‐2‐yl)‐but‐3‐en‐1‐ol was used as the crucial chiral building block in a formal total synthesis of duloxetine.
A new palladium‐catalyzed route to 3‐hydroxy‐4‐arylcyclopentanones and 4‐arylcyclopentenones in a diastereo‐ and enantioselective manner by a Heck–Matsuda desymmetrization was achieved from the commercially available meso cis‐4‐cyclopentene‐1,3‐diol. This method is highly practical, mild, high yielding and is carried out under “open vessel” conditions. Protected and unprotected substrates provide distinct products bearing considerable value as synthetic scaffolds for the synthesis of natural and unnatural bioactive compounds containing a five‐membered ring.
An asymmetric tandem Michael addition–lactonization between ortho‐nitrovinylphenols and azalactones was investigated for constructing 3,4‐dihydrocoumarin backbones with a quaternary amino acid moiety. Under the catalysis of the chiral squaramide derived from L ‐tert‐leucine, a wide range of substituted (E)‐2‐(2‐nitrovinyl)phenols and azalactones were well tolerated in this tandem reaction to provide the corresponding biologically significant 3,4‐dihydrocoumarin derivatives in excellent yields with high levels of diastereo‐ and enantioselectivity.
(−)‐erythro‐Mefloquine hydrochloride was synthesized stereospecifically from commercially available (S)‐(−)‐1‐Boc‐2‐piperidinecarboxylic acid in four steps without disturbing the chiral center, and the absolute configuration of (−)‐erythro‐mefloquine hydrochloride was unambiguously determined as (11R,12S). (11S,12R)‐(+)‐erythro‐Mefloquine hydrochloride was synthesized utilizing [(S,S)‐TsDpen]Ru(p‐cymene)Cl complexes‐catalyzed enantioselective transfer hydrogenation of pyridyl ketone 7 as the key step, and the sense of asymmetric induction of 2‐pyridyl ketone 7 is opposite to that of normal ketones in the transfer hydrogenation. Our results confirm the correctness of the determination of the absolute configuration by three physical chemistry methods, and, unbelievably, the erroneous assignments by all previous five asymmetric syntheses.
A highly efficient and enantioselective inverse electron‐demand hetero‐Diels–Alder reaction of in situ generated 1,2‐diaza‐1,3‐dienes with enol ethers has been developed with the use of a chiral copper/bisoxazoline complex as the catalyst. The reaction exhibits high enantioselectivity (up to 90% ee) and provides a robust and powerful method to synthesize a variety of structurally diverse and densely substituted chiral pyridazine derivatives in good to excellent yields.
The first asymmetric conjugate addition of mercaptans to β‐substituted‐β‐trifluoromethyl oxazolidinone enoates has been developed. The opposite enantiomers of adducts, containing a trifluoromethylated hetero‐quaternary stereogenic centers, could be obtained by utilizing two pseudo‐enantiomeric Cinchona alkaloid‐derived tertiary amine/squaramides as catalysts. Potassium dihydrogen phosphate was found to accelerate the reaction rate without compromising the enantioselective excess. A variety of chiral trifluoromethylated tertiary thioethers and thiols were readily prepared with excellent enantioselectivity.
3‐Substituted‐2H‐1,4‐benzoxazines undergo a highly enantioselective direct Mannich reaction with acetone in the presence of an L ‐proline catalyst at room temperature. The corresponding N‐heterocycles with α‐tetrasubstituted carbon stereocenters were obtained in good yields (48–92%) and excellent enantioselectivity (up to >99% ee). Furthermore, a novel modification involving the diastereoselective reduction of the Mannich adduct was carried out leading to the formation of a 1,3‐amino alcohol with a chiral tetrasubstituted carbon stereocenter in high yield.
A highly effective aldol cyclization of α‐isothiocyanato imide to both β,γ‐unsaturated α‐keto esters and aryl‐substituted α‐keto esters has been developed. A chiral N,N′‐dioxide–yttrium triflate complex was used as the catalyst. A series of cyclic thiocarbamates bearing chiral quaternary stereocenters was synthesized in good to high yields, excellent diastereo‐ (up to 25:1 dr) and enantioselectivities (up to 99 % ee). In addition, the reaction could be carried out on a gram‐scale, and other functionalized derivatives are also conveniently transformed. Interestingly, a discrepancy of diastereoselection was observed between the reactions of β,γ‐unsaturated α‐keto esters and aryl‐substituted α‐keto esters. Moreover, a substrate dependency of non‐linear effects was observed in this reaction. On the basis of the experimental results and the absolute configuration of the products, possible catalytic models have been proposed to explain the origin of the asymmetric process.
The amination of racemic α‐chiral aldehydes, 2‐phenylpropanal derivatives, was investigated employing ω‐transaminases. By medium and substrate engineering the optical purity of the resulting β‐chiral chiral amine could be enhanced to reach optical purities up to 99% ee. Using enantiocomplementary ω‐transaminases allowed us to access the (R)‐ as well as the (S)‐enantiomer in most cases. It is important to note that the stereopreference of the ω‐transaminases found for α‐chiral aldehydes did not correlate with the stereopreference previously observed for the amination of methyl ketones. In one case the stereopreference switched even upon exchanging a methyl substituent to a methoxy group.
Asymmetric allylation of (hetero)aromatic aldehydes by a zinc(II)‐allylbutyrolactone species catalyzed by a chiral BINOL‐type phosphoric acid gave β‐substituted α‐methylenebutyrolactones in 68 to >99% ee and 52–91% isolated yield. DFT studies on the intermediate Zn2+‐complex – crucial for chiral induction – suggest a six‐membered ring intermediate, which allows the phosphoric acid moiety to activate the aldehyde. The methodology was applied to the synthesis of the antitumour natural product (S)‐(−)‐hydroxymatairesinol.
The first enantioselective Friedel–Crafts alkylation of indoles and pyrroles with 3‐hydroxy‐3‐indolyloxindoles to access two novel types of 3,3‐diaryloxindoles catalyzed by chiral imidodiphosphoric acids has been reported. A range of quaternary carbon centered 3,3‐diaryloxindoles were synthesized in high yield (up to >99%) with excellent enantioselectivity (up to 98% ee) at low catalyst loadings (as low as 0.5 mol%). The Friedel–Crafts reaction between indoles and 3‐hydroxy‐3‐indolyloxindoles is amenable to gram scale syntheses.
A more practical and efficient catalytic asymmetric chlorolactonization of styrene‐type carboxylic acids with 1,3‐dichloro‐5,5‐dimethylhydantoin (DCDMH) using C3‐symmetric cinchonine‐squaramide (CSCS) as organocatalyst has been developed. A series of chiral chloro‐substituted isochroman‐1‐ones was obtained in excellent yields (up to 95%) and enantioselectivities (up to 99% ee), whwereby the results for chloro‐substituted isochroman‐1‐ones are the best ever achieved. The catalyst can be recovered and reused for six cycles. Moreover, the chlorolactonization product 3b was further transformed to optically active bicyclic isochroman‐1‐one derivatives in high yield without losing the enantioselectivity. Furthermore, compounds 3e and 2n proved to be highly potent inhibitors of the HIV‐1 in TZM‐bl cells.
A series of 1,2‐ and 1,4‐dihydroquinolines has been successfully prepared. The Pd‐catalyzed intramolecular N‐arylation of Z‐enamines, formally prepared by the Horner–Wadsworth–Emmons olefination, proceeded efficiently to furnish the cyclized products. Depending on the cyclization conditions, substituted 1,4‐dihydroquinolines and further isomerized 1,2‐dihydroquinolines were independently obtained in high yields with an excellent control of isomerization of the double bond.
A highly efficient chiral N,N′‐dioxide–nickel(II) complex system has been developed to catalyze the domino thia‐Michael/aldol reaction of 1,4‐dithiane‐2,5‐diol with 3‐alkenyloxindoles. A series of the desired spirocyclic oxindole‐fused tetrahydrothiophenes was obtained in good yields with excellent ee and dr (up to 97% yield, 98% ee, >19:1 dr). Besides, based on the X‐ray crystal structure of the catalyst as well as the absolute configuration of the product, a catalytic model was proposed to explain the stereocontrol process.
A practical, nickel‐catalyzed Kumada‐type double cross‐coupling reaction of gem‐difluoroalkenes with 1,4‐ or 1,5‐di‐Grignard reagents was developed. The reaction proceeded efficiently at room temperature and a variety of cyclization products, arylmethylenecyclopentanes and arylmethylenecyclohexanes, were obtained in high to excellent yields, respectively.
An unprecedented organocatalytic enantioselective cascade Michael/hemiketalization/retro‐aldol reaction of 2‐[(E)‐2‐nitrovinyl]phenols and 2,4‐dioxo‐4‐arylbutanoates is described. With a bifunctional squaramide catalyst incorporating (1R,2R)‐1,2‐diphenylethane‐1,2‐diamine, the reactions afford products in 75–99% yields with 80–98% ee. This process provides an enantioselective pathway for the synthesis of chiral α‐keto esters, precursors of 3‐arylproline derivatives, δ‐amino α‐keto acids or cyclic α‐keto lactams.
The concise synthesis of a pharmaceutical candidate is described. The chiral core of the molecule is assembled using an aza‐benzoin condensation and a dynamic kinetic resolution (DKR) as the key reactions. This enables superb control of the regio‐, diastereo‐ and enantioselectivity of the synthesis. Both biocatalysts and transition metal catalysts are remarkably effective in the key asymmetric reduction step. Similar approaches could be considered in the synthesis of other 1,2‐amino alcohols where traditional approaches based on functionalization of alkenes, epoxides or aziridines may suffer from selectivity issues.
The (+)‐ as well as the (−)‐enantiomer of the pyrrolizidine alkaloid xenovenine were prepared within five steps with 17 and 30% overall yields, respectively, in optically pure form, >99% ee as well as >99% de. In the asymmetric key step a transaminase performed a regio‐ and stereoselective monoamination of a triketone. By employing two enantiocomplementary transaminases from Arthrobacter sp. both enantiomers were accessible. The triketone was readily prepared via two steps starting from commercially available, achiral 2‐(n‐heptyl)furan. In the final catalytic hydrogenation step, the newly introduced chiral centre directed hydrogen addition to form preferentially the desired (5Z,8E)‐diastereomer. The regio‐ and stereoselective amination of a single ketone moiety out of three allowed the performance of the shortest and highest yielding total synthesis of the bicyclic showcase pyrrolizidine alkaloid without the need for protecting strategies.
