Alcohol racemization catalyst

We synthesized 8 by the one-step reaction of [Ph4(Tl -C4CO)]Ru(CO)3 with benzyl chloride. In contrast to previous alcohol racemization catalysts, 8 was stable in the air during racemization [30]. The racemization was performed even under 1 atm of molecular oxygen. Thus, alcohol DKR was for the first time possible with 8 in the air at room temperature (R)-l-phenylethyl acetate (99% yield, greater than 99%e.e.) was obtained from 1-phenylethanol by using 4mol% of 8, CALB and isopropenyl acetate in the presence of potassium phosphate (Scheme 1.22). This catalyst system was effective for both benzylic and aliphatic alcohols. The synthetic method for 8 was applied to the preparation of a polymer-bound derivative (9). Hydroxymethyl polystyrene was reacted with 4-(chloromethyl)benzoyl chloride to... 

Hulshof et al. introduced 10 as an alcohol racemization catalyst [31]. Alcohol DKR was performed with 0.1mol% of 10, CALB, isopropyl butyrate as the acyl donor, potassium carbonate and about 20mol% of the corresponding ketone at 70°C (Scheme 1.23). Without the ketone, yield and optical purity of the product ester were decreased significantly. 2-Propanol produced by the acyl transfer reaction was removed at reduced pressure during the DKR to shift the equilibrium to acylated products. 

Based on the catalytic activity of aluminum alkoxides in the Meerwein-Ponndorf-Verley-Oppenauer reaction, Berkessel et al. envisioned that aluminum complexes can act as alcohol racemization catalysts [32]. Aluminum alkoxide complexes generated from a 1 1 mixture of AlMes and a bidentate ligand such as binol or 2,2 -biphenol were effective catalysts for alcohol racemization. At room temperature, 10mol% of the aluminum catalyst racemized 1-phenylethanol completely within 3h in the presence of 0.5 equiv. of acetophenone. The aluminum catalysts were... 

Fig. 9.5 Ruthenium complexes used as alcohol racemization catalysts.

One place to look for good alcohol racemization catalysts is in the pool of catalysts that are used for hydrogen transfer reduction of ketones. One class of complexes that are excellent catalysts for the asymmetric transfer hydrogenation comprises the ruthenium complexes of mono sulfonamides of chiral diamines developed by Noyori and coworkers [20, 21]. These catalysts have been used for the asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of ketones [20] and imines [21] (Fig. 9.9). 

The method is not restricted to secondary aryl alcohols and very good results were also obtained for secondary diols [39], a- and S-hydroxyalkylphosphonates [40], 2-hydroxyalkyl sulfones [41], allylic alcohols [42], S-halo alcohols [43], aromatic chlorohydrins [44], functionalized y-hydroxy amides [45], 1,2-diarylethanols [46], and primary amines [47]. Recently, the synthetic potential of this method was expanded by application of an air-stable and recyclable racemization catalyst that is applicable to alcohol DKR at room temperature [48]. The catalyst type is not limited to organometallic ruthenium compounds. Recent report indicates that the in situ racemization of amines with thiyl radicals can also be combined with enzymatic acylation of amines [49]. It is clear that, in the future, other types of catalytic racemization processes will be used together with enzymatic processes. 

DKR requires two catalysts one for resolution and one for racemization. We and others have developed a novel strategy using enzyme as the resolution catalyst and metal as the racemization catalyst as shown in Scheme 1. The R-selecfive DKR can be achieved by combining a R-selective enzyme with a proper metal catalyst and its counterpart by the combination of the metal catalyst with a -selective enzyme. This strategy has been demonstrated to be applicable to the DKR of secondary alcohols, allylic esters, and primary amines. Among them, the DKR of secondary alcohols has been the most successful. 

The KR of secondary alcohols by some hydrolytic enzymes has been well known. The combinations of these hydrolytic enzymes with racemization catalysts have been explored as the catalysts for the efficient DKR of the secondary alcohols. Up to now, lipase and subtilisin have been employed, respectively, as the R- and 5-selective resolution enzymes in combination with metal catalysts (Scheme 2). 

Later, in a modification to the above system, we reported the use of an indenylruthenium complex 2 as a racemization catalyst for the DKR of secondary alcohols, which does not require ketones but a weak base hke triethylamine and molecular oxygen to be achvated. The DKR with 2 in combination with immobilized Pseudomonas cepacia lipase (PCL, trade name. Lipase PS-C ) was carried out at a lower temperature (60°C) and provided good yields and high optical purities (Table 2). This paved the way for the omission of ketones as... 

In an effort directed at developing a racemization catalyst which works uniformly for all the substrates at room temperature, we designed and synthesized a novel aminocyclopentadienyl ruthenium chloride complex 5. The DKR of aromatic as well as aliphatic alcohols could be conducted at room temperature. In case of aromatic alcohols, the substituent effects were found insignificant in the DKR however, aromatic alcohols have comparatively faster conversion rates than their ahphatic counterparts. This is the first ever report of a catalyst... 

The (5 )-selective DKR of alcohols with subtilisin was also possible in ionic liquid at room temperature (Table 14). " In this case, the cymene-ruthenium complex 3 was used as the racemization catalyst. In general, the optical purities of (5 )-esters were lower than those of (R)-esters described in Table 5. 

All the Ru-based racemization catalysts described earUer are air-sensitive and thus difficult to reuse. We found that a modified Ru complex 7 was air-stable and recyclable, in particular, in a polymer-supported form 8. The racemization of secondary alcohols with 7 took place equally well under both oxygen and argon atmospheres. The subsequent DKRs of several alcohols using 7 or 8 under aerobic... 

The DKR processes for secondary alcohols and primary amines can be slightly modified for applications in the asymmetric transformations of ketones, enol esters, and ketoximes. The key point here is that racemization catalysts used in the DKR can also catalyze the hydrogenation of ketones, enol esters, and ketoximes. Thus, the DKR procedures need a reducing agent as additional additive to enable asymmetric transformations. 

The catalytic alcohol racemization with diruthenium catalyst 1 is based on the reversible transfer hydrogenation mechanism. Meanwhile, the problem of ketone formation in the DKR of secondary alcohols with 1 was identified due to the liberation of molecular hydrogen. Then, we envisioned a novel asymmetric reductive acetylation of ketones to circumvent the problem of ketone formation (Scheme 6). A key factor of this process was the selection of hydrogen donors compatible with the DKR conditions. 2,6-Dimethyl-4-heptanol, which cannot be acylated by lipases, was chosen as a proper hydrogen donor. Asymmetric reductive acetylation of ketones was also possible under 1 atm hydrogen in ethyl acetate, which acted as acyl donor and solvent. Ethanol formation from ethyl acetate did not cause critical problem, and various ketones were successfully transformed into the corresponding chiral acetates (Table 17). However, reaction time (96 h) was unsatisfactory. 

Scheme 5.8 DKR of a secondary alcohol using an acidic zeolite racemization catalyst in conjunction with CALB. The zeolite was encapsulated using an Lb L method in order to overcome the incompatibility of the two catalysts.

Saunders et al. reported the DKR system for secondary alcohols using Cp lr complexes bearing a NHC ligand as racemization catalysts [47]. As shown in Scheme 5.15, the reaction of racemic 1-phenylethanol with isopropenyl acetate in the presence of catalyst 22 (0.1mol% Ir) and Novozyme 435 at 70 °C for 8h gave... 

Many different metal catalysts have been explored for racemization of secondary alcohols. Among them, ruthenium-based organometallic complexes have been most intensively tested as the racemization catalyst (Figure 1.1). 

These ruthenium catalysts catalyze the racemization of secondary alcohol through a dehydrogenation/hydrogenation cycle with or without releasing ketone as a byproduct (Scheme 1.5). Catalysts 6-9 display good activities at room temperature, while others show satisfactory activities at elevated temperatures. Catalyst 1, for example, requires a high temperature (70 °C) for dissociation into two monomeric species (la and lb) acting as racemization catalysts (Scheme 1.6). 

DKR of secondary alcohol is achieved by coupling enzyme-catalyzed resolution with metal-catalyzed racemization. For efficient DKR, these catalyhc reactions must be compatible with each other. In the case of DKR of secondary alcohol with the lipase-ruthenium combinahon, the use of a proper acyl donor (required for enzymatic reaction) is parhcularly crucial because metal catalyst can react with the acyl donor or its deacylated form. Popular vinyl acetate is incompatible with all the ruthenium complexes, while isopropenyl acetate can be used with most monomeric ruthenium complexes. p-Chlorophenyl acetate (PCPA) is the best acyl donor for use with dimeric ruthenium complex 1. On the other hand, reaction temperature is another crucial factor. Many enzymes lose their activities at elevated temperatures. Thus, the racemizahon catalyst should show good catalytic efficiency at room temperature to be combined with these enzymes. One representative example is subtilisin. This enzyme rapidly loses catalytic activities at elevated temperatures and gradually even at ambient temperature. It therefore is compatible with the racemization catalysts 6-9, showing good activities at ambient temperature. In case the racemization catalyst requires an elevated temperature, CALB is the best counterpart. 

The first use of a metal catalyst in the DKR of secondary alcohols was reported by Williams et al. [7]. In this work, various rhodium, iridium, ruthenium and aluminum complexes were tested. Among them, only Rh2(OAc)4 and [Rh(cod)Cl]2 showed reasonable activity as the racemization catalyst in the DKR of 1-phenylethanol. The racemization occurred through transfer-hydrogenation reactions and required stoichiometric amounts of ketone as hydrogen acceptor. The DKR of 1-phenylethanol performed with Rh2(OAc)4 and Pseudomonas Jluore-scens lipase gave (R)-l-phenylethyl acetate of 98%e.e. at 60% conversion after 72 h. 

DKR of Secondary Alcohols with Air-Stable Racemization Catalysts... 

Kinetic resolutions, such as the ones discussed above, are limited to a 50% yield. Consequently, the undesired enantiomer needs to be recovered, racemized, and recycled, which makes the process more complex and leads to an increased solvent use. The obvious solution is to racemize the slow-reacting enantiomer in situ. With chiral alcohols, the racemization catalysts of choice are based on ruthenium (Figure 10.17). 

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