Small-molecule H-bond donors in asymmetric catalysis.

Asymmetric 1,3-Dipolar Cycloaddition Reactions

Huisgen's 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions become nonconcerted when copper(I) acetylides react with azides and nitrile oxides, providing ready access to 1,4-disubstituted 1,2,3-triazoles and 3,4-disubstituted isoxazoles, respectively. The process is highly reliable and exhibits an unusually wide scope with respect to both components. Computational studies revealed a stepwise mechanism involving unprecedented metallacycle intermediates, which appear to be common for a variety of dipoles.

Copper(I)-catalyzed synthesis of azoles. DFT study predicts unprecedented reactivity and intermediates.

Asymmetric multicomponent reactions involve the preparation of chiral compounds by the reaction of three or more reagents added simultaneously. This kind of addition and reaction has some advantages over classic divergent reaction strategies, such as lower costs, time, and energy, as well as environmentally friendlier aspects. All these advantages, together with the high level of stereoselectivity attained in some of these reactions, will force chemists in industry as in academia to adopt this new strategy of synthesis, or at least to consider it as a viable option. The positive aspects as well as the drawbacks of this strategy are discussed in this Review.

Asymmetric multicomponent reactions (amcrs): the new frontier

140 years ago Adolf von Baeyer proposed the structure of a heteroaromatic compound which revolutionized organic and medical chemistry: indole. After more than a century, indole itself and the complexity of naturally occurring indole derivatives continue to inspire and influence developments in synthetic chemistry. In particular, the ubiquitous presence of indole rings in pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and functional materials are testament to the ever increasing interest in the design of mild and efficient synthetic routes to functionalized indole derivatives. This Review emphasizes the achievements in the selective catalytic functionalization of indoles (C-C bond-forming processes) over the last four years.

Catalytic Functionalization of Indoles in a New Dimension

How to make five contiguous stereocenters in one reaction: asymmetric organocatalytic synthesis of pentasubstituted cyclohexanes.

A general reaction protocol for catalytic enantioselective 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction of nitrones, activated by chiral Lewis acids, with electron-rich alkenes has been developed. The nitrones are activated by various chiral 2,2‘-dihydroxy-1,1‘-binaphthyl (BINOL)-AlMe complexes, and it has been found that 3,3‘-diaryl-BINOL-AlMe complexes catalyze a highly regio-, diastereo-, and enantioselective 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction of aromatic nitrones with vinyl ethers, giving the exo-diastereomer of the isoxazolidines with de's up to >90% and up to 97% ee. The reaction has been investigated under various conditions with different nitrones and vinyl ethers (and alkenes), and a general synthetic procedure is presented. The mechanism for the reaction is discussed on the basis of a linear stereochemical effect of the catalyst, the diastereoselectivity, and absolute stereochemistry of the isoxazolidines formed, and theoretical calculations of the 3,3‘-diphenyl-BINOL-AlMe−nitrone intermediate.

Catalytic enantioselective inverse-electron demand 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions of nitrones with alkenes

The intermediates in the chiral bis(oxazoline)copper(II)-catalyzed reactions have been investigated by means of experimental and theoretical investigations. It is shown that the absolute configuration of the hetero-Diels-Alder adduct obtained from the reaction of ethyl glyoxylate with 1,3-cyclohexadiene in the presence of the chiral bis(phenyloxazoline)copper(II) is dependent on the solvent. In this case, a linear relationship between the enantiomeric excess (ee) and the dielectric constant of the solvent was observed. However, the enantiomeric excess for the adduct obtained with the chiral bis(tert-butyloxazoline)copper(II) complex is independent of the solvent. The addition of different coordinating solvents to the chiral catalysts was investigated and no effect on the enantioselectivity of the reaction was observed. A series of chiral bis(tert-butyloxazoline)-, bis(phenyloxazoline)-, and bis(indaneoxazoline)copper(II) complexes has been prepared and characterized by X-ray analysis, and the similarity between the structures is discussed. For comparison, two related chiral bis(tert-butyloxazoline)- and bis(phenyloxazoline)zinc(II) complexes were also prepared and characterized. A series of chiral bis(oxazoline)copper(II)-substrate (the substrate being glyoxal or methyl glyoxylate) complexes was investigated by means of ab initio calculations. Calculation of the total energy of the optimized structure of 17-, 19-, and 21-electron bis(oxazoline)copper(II)-substrate complexes give the 17-electron complex as the most stable and the most reactive complex, while the 21-electron complex is less stable and also much less reactive. The optimized structures of both the 17-electron bis(tert-butyloxazoline)- and bis(phenyloxazoline)copper(II)-substrate complexes show that the plane of the substrate molecule is twisted by approximately 40-45 degrees out of the bis(oxazoline)copper(II) plane, in agreement with the X-ray structures. On the basis of the experimental results, X-ray structures, and ab initio calculations, the structure of the intermediate(s) and reactivity of the chiral bis(oxazoline)copper(II)-substrate complexes are discussed.

On the Intermediates in Chiral Bis(oxazoline)copper(II)‐Catalyzed Enantioselective Reactions—Experimental and Theoretical Investigations

A general catalytic hetero-Diels−Alder reaction for ketones has been developed, and for the first time a general reaction protocol is disclosed where the selectivity and activity of a chiral Lewis ...

Catalytic Asymmetric Hetero-Diels−Alder Reactions of Ketones: Chemzymatic Reactions

1 mol% of catalyst is sufficient: The hetero Diels-Alder reaction of α-imino esters 1 with activated conjugated dienes 2 (R=H, Me) needs only 1 mol% of a 2,2'-bis(diarylphosphanyl)-1,1'-binaphthyl (BINAP) copper(I) complex as the catalyst to generate the adducts 3 in good yields and with enantioselectivities up to 96%. The reaction can also be carried out on gram scale! Tos=H3 CC6 H4 SO2 ; TMS=Me3 Si.

Rita G. Hazell

Papers

How to make five contiguous stereocenters in one reaction: asymmetric organocatalytic synthesis of pentasubstituted cyclohexanes.

Catalytic enantioselective inverse-electron demand 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions of nitrones with alkenes

On the Intermediates in Chiral Bis(oxazoline)copper(II)‐Catalyzed Enantioselective Reactions—Experimental and Theoretical Investigations

Catalytic Asymmetric Hetero-Diels−Alder Reactions of Ketones: Chemzymatic Reactions

Catalytic Enantioselective Aza Diels–Alder Reactions of Imino Dienophiles