Homochiral Metal–Organic Frameworks for Asymmetric Heterogeneous Catalysis

Asymmetric enamine catalysis.

Over the past decade, the most significant, conceptual advances in the field of fluorination were enabled most prominently by organo- and transition-metal catalysis. The most challenging transformation remains the formation of the parent C-F bond, primarily as a consequence of the high hydration energy of fluoride, strong metal-fluorine bonds, and highly polarized bonds to fluorine. Most fluorination reactions still lack generality, predictability, and cost-efficiency. Despite all current limitations, modern fluorination methods have made fluorinated molecules more readily available than ever before and have begun to have an impact on research areas that do not require large amounts of material, such as drug discovery and positron emission tomography. This Review gives a brief summary of conventional fluorination reactions, including those reactions that introduce fluorinated functional groups, and focuses on modern developments in the field.

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Introduction of Fluorine and Fluorine-Containing Functional Groups

Over the last decade, substantial research has led to the introduction of an impressive number of efficient procedures which allow the selective construction of CC bonds by directly connecting two different CH bonds under oxidative conditions. Common to these methodologies is the generation of the reactive intermediates in situ by activation of both CH bonds. This strategy was introduced by the group of Li as cross-dehydrogenative coupling (CDC) and discloses waste-minimized synthetic alternatives to classic coupling procedures which rely on the use of prefunctionalized starting materials. This Review highlights the recent progress in the field of cross-dehydrogenative C sp 3C formations and provides a comprehensive overview on existing procedures and employed methodologies.

The Cross-Dehydrogenative Coupling of C sp 3H Bonds: A Versatile Strategy for CC Bond Formations

The current status of organic synthesis is hampered by costly protecting-group strategies and lengthy purification procedures after each synthetic step. To circumvent these problems, the synthetic potential of multicomponent domino reactions has been utilized for the efficient and stereoselective construction of complex molecules from simple precursors in a single process. In particular, domino reactions mediated by organocatalysts are in a way biomimetic, as this principle is used very efficiently in the biosynthesis of complex natural products starting from simple precursors. In this Minireview, we discuss the current development of this fast-growing field.

Asymmetric organocatalytic domino reactions.

The use of secondary amines as asymmetric catalysts in transformations of carbonyl compounds has seen tremendous development in recent years. Going from sporadic reports of selected reactions, aminocatalysis can now be considered as one of the methods of choice for many asymmetric functionalizations of carbonyl compounds—primarily of aldehydes and ketones. These functionalizations have been published at a breathtaking pace over the last few years—during the “golden age” and “gold rush” of organocatalysis. This tutorial review will firstly sketch the basic developments in organocatalysis, focussing especially on the use of secondary amines as catalysts for the functionalization of aldehydes and α,β-unsaturated aldehydes, with emphasis on the mechanisms of the transformations and, secondly, outline recent trends within central areas of this research topic. Lastly, we will present our guesses as to where new developments might take organocatalysis in the years to come.

Organocatalysis--after the gold rush.

A new concept in organocatalysis is presented, the direct asymmetric gamma-functionalization of alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes. We disclose that secondary amines can invert the usual reactivity of alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes, enabling a direct gamma-amination of the carbonyl compound using azodicarboxylates as the electrophilic nitrogen-source. The scope of the reaction is demonstrated for the enantioselective gamma-amination of different alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes, giving the products in moderate to good yields and with high enantioselectivities up to 93% ee. Experimental investigations and DFT calculations indicate that the reaction might proceed as a hetero-Diels-Alder cycloaddition reaction. Such a mechanism can explain the "unexpected" stereochemical outcome of the reaction.

Dienamine catalysis: organocatalytic asymmetric gamma-amination of alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes.

Mechanisms in aminocatalysis

The development of the organocatalytic asymmetric one-pot Michael−Darzens condensation giving highly functionalized complex epoxycyclohexanone derivatives with up to four chiral centers is presented. Depending on the reaction conditions, either the polysubstituted 7-oxa-bicyclo[4.1.0]heptan-2-one ring system or 2-chloro-cyclohex-2-enone derivatives can be formed. For the former class of compounds a high diversity in substitution pattern is demonstrated, and the optically active products are obtained in excellent diastereo- and enantioselectivities. The potential synthetic applications of the products have been demonstrated by performing a series of highly diastereoselective transformations leading to optically active products useful for the life-science industry. Furthermore, mechanistic investigations on the formation of the chiral centers in the optically active epoxycyclohexanone are presented.

One-Pot Organocatalytic Domino Michael-Aldol and Intramolecular SN2 Reactions. Asymmetric Synthesis of Highly Functionalized Epoxycyclohexanone Derivatives

The first catalytic enantioselective β-hydroxylation of α,β-unsaturated aldehydes is presented. Using commercially available (E)-benzaldehyde oxime in the presence of 2-[bis(3,5-bis-trifluoromethyl-phenyl)trimethyl-silanyloxymethyl]pyrrolidine as organocatalyst, the corresponding chiral carbonyl β-oxime ethers are obtained in high yields and with excellent enantioselectivities. These optically active carbonyl and hydroxy β-oxime ethers are highly interesting biological compounds in, e.g., sex pheromone analogues, highly potent antiinflammatory agents, and penicillin and cephalosporin analogues. The chiral carbonyl β-oxime ethers can be reduced to the corresponding 1,3-diols in high yields. Furthermore, the organocatalytic enantioselective β-hydroxylation of α,β-unsaturated aldehydes could be performed on gram scale without loss of enantioselectivity.

Søren Bertelsen

Papers

Organocatalysis--after the gold rush.

Dienamine catalysis: organocatalytic asymmetric gamma-amination of alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes.

Mechanisms in aminocatalysis

One-Pot Organocatalytic Domino Michael-Aldol and Intramolecular SN2 Reactions. Asymmetric Synthesis of Highly Functionalized Epoxycyclohexanone Derivatives

Asymmetric organocatalytic beta-hydroxylation of alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes.