Aldehydes enantiotopicity

The heterobimetallic asymmetric catalyst, Sm-Li-(/ )-BINOL, catalyzes the nitro-aldol reaction of ot,ot-difluoroaldehydes with nitromethane in a good enantioselective manner, as shown in Eq. 3.78. In general, catalytic asymmetric syntheses of fluorine containing compounds have been rather difficult. The S configuration of the nitro-aldol adduct of Eq. 3.78 shows that the nitronate reacts preferentially on the Si face of aldehydes in the presence of (R)-LLB. In general, (R)-LLB causes attack on the Re face. Thus, enantiotopic face selection for a,a-difluoroaldehydes is opposite to that for nonfluorinated aldehydes. The stereoselectivity for a,a-difluoroaldehydes is identical to that of (3-alkoxyaldehydes, as shown in Scheme 3.19, suggesting that the fluorine atoms at the a-position have a great influence on enantioface selection. 

The central point of Evans s methodology is the induction of a 7t-enantiotopic facial differentiation through a conformationally rigid highly ordered transition state. Since the dialkylboron enolates of AT-acyl-2-oxazolidinones exhibit excellent syn-diastereoselectivity syn.anti >97 3) when reacted with a variety of aldehydes, Evans [14] studied the aldol condensation with the chiral equivalents 32 and 38. which are synthesised from fS)-valine (35) and the hydrochloride of (15, 2R)-norephedrine (36) (Scheme 9.11), respectively, and presently are commercially available. 

Heathcock examined the aldol condensations of aldehydes already having one or more chiral centres in which case the carbonyl faces are diastereotopic, rather than enantiotopic, and there are four relative ways in which such aldehydes can react... 

Three years later. List and coworkers extended their phosphoric acid-catalyzed dynamic kinetic resolution of enoUzable aldehydes (Schemes 18 and 19) to the Kabachnik-Fields reaction (Scheme 33) [56]. This transformation combines the differentiation of the enantiomers of a racemate (50) (control of the absolute configuration at the P-position of 88) with an enantiotopic face differentiation (creation of the stereogenic center at the a-position of 88). The introduction of a new steri-cally congested phosphoric acid led to success. BINOL phosphate (R)-3p (10 mol%, R = 2,6- Prj-4-(9-anthryl)-C H3) with anthryl-substituted diisopropylphenyl groups promoted the three-component reaction of a-branched aldehydes 50 with p-anisidine (89) and di-(3-pentyl) phosphite (85b). P-Branched a-amino phosphonates 88 were obtained in high yields (61-89%) and diastereoselectivities (7 1-28 1) along with good enantioselectivities (76-94% ee) and could be converted into... 

For Rh(I)/BINAP-catalyzed isomerizations of allylic amines, the mechanistic scheme outlined in Eq. (2) has been proposed. The available data are consistent with the notion that Rh(I)/PF-P(o-Tol)2-catalyzed isomerizations of allylic alcohols follow a related pathway [11]. For example, the only deuterium-containing product of the reaction depicted in Eq. (9) is the l,3-dideuterated aldehyde, which estabhshes that the isomerization involves a clean intramolecular 1,3-migration. The data illustrated in Eqs. (10) and (11) reveal that the catalyst selectively abstracts one of the enantiotopic hydrogens/ deuteriums alpha to the hydroxyl group. 

In both reactions with the meso substrates, no intermediary monoadduct could be detected. Consequently, a potential kinetic preference of the aldolase for either of the competing enantiotopic hydroxyaldehyde moieties within the starting substrates could not be investigated. No matter which of the enantiotopic aldehyde groups is attacked first, however, the second addition steps must be kinetically faster in each case, probably supported by the presence of an anionic charge in the intermediates, which should improve the substrate affinity to the enzyme. 

One can also compare faces of a molecule in the same way as groups, since the comparison actually applies to environments. Thus, the two faces of the carbonyl groups of aldehydes, unsymmetrical ketones, esters, and other acid derivatives are enantiotopic. Reaction at the two faces by a chiral nucleophile will take place at different rates, resulting in asymmetric induction. 

In the second step, achiral 9-borabicyclo[3.3.1]nonane (9-BBN) adds to the less hindered diastereotopic face of a-pinene to yield the chiral reducing agent Alpine-Borane. Aldehydes are rapidly reduced to alcohols. The reaction with deuterio-Alpine-Borane, which yields (R)-a-d-henzy alcohol in 98% enantiomeric excess ( ) reveals a very high degree of selectivity of the enantiotopic faces of the aldehyde group in a crowded transition state ... 

SE.3.1.2. Desymmetrization of gem-Dwarboxylates An equivalent of asymmetric carbonyl addition can be achieved by the alkylation of gem-dicarboxylates (Scheme 8E.17). The alkylation of gem-dicarboxylates, which are easily prepared by the Lewis acid-catalyzed addition of acid anhydrides to an aldehyde, converts the problem of differentiating the two enantiotopic 7t-faces of a carbonyl group into that of asymmetric substitution of either enantiotopic C-O bond of the gem-dicarboxylate. Although asymmetric induction may be derived from enantio-discrimination in the ionization step or in the alkene coordination step, the fast and reversible nature of alkene coordination suggests that the ionization step is more likely to be the source of enantio-discrimination. 

The reactions of l,3-thiazolium-4-olates with aliphatic aldehydes carried out in refluxing benzene or dichloromethane, have been reported to produce a series of highly functionalized (3-lactams and thiiranes at the same time [230]. The critical issue of the stereoselection was discussed in terms of the endo and exo approaches (respective to the aldehyde substituent) to any enantiotopic face of the heterocyclic dipole. Such orientations involved either the Re or the Si faces of the prochiral aldehydes (Scheme 105). 

Direct intermolecular aldol reactions, catalysed by proline, between tetrahydro-4H-thiopyranone (25) and racemic aldehydes exhibit enantiotopic group selectivity and dynamic kinetic resolution, with ee% of >98% in some cases.109... 

In each example described above the allyl group adds preferentially to one enantiotopic face of the aldehyde rather than the other. Interactions between the homochiral moiety attached to the allyl group and the aldehyde differ for each face of the aldehyde and the allyl group prefers to add to the face of the aldehyde for which these interactions (which may be due to a complex combination of steric and electronic factors) are minimized. 

A highly diastereoselective oxetane formation was identified in the PB reaction of dihydropyridone with a m-hydroxybenzaldehyde derivative (Scheme 7.33). The chiral auxiliary, when bound to the aldehyde, offered a binding site to which the reaction partner could attach by two hydrogen bonds. In the hydrogen-bonded complex that was produced, the two enantiotopic faces of the alkene could be differentiated [52]... 

The smallest member of such homologous series are the 2,3-dihydroxy succinic (tartaric) dialdehydes. Three stereoisomeric forms are possible, i. e. one meso (erythro) and two enantiomeric (d- and L-threo) compounds (i. e. 3). Because of the enantiotopic nature of the termini of a meso chain, any twofold aldol addition under reagent control imposed by the same chiral biocatalyst would eliminate the element of cj-symmetry and thus effect a terminus differentiation (cf. Scheme 4). For the same reason, enzymes that cannot easily differentiate the two enantiotopic aldehyde groups would lead to the formation of two different. 

Ozonolysis of the corresponding meso-precursor 18 [97] gave the dialdehyde also as a complex mixture of isomeric forms, from which tandem aldolization with FruA expectedly delivered a non symmetrical, bisfuranoid undecodiulose 19 as the sole product which was isolated in 25% yield [56]. No intermediary mono adduct could be detected by t.l.c. from which follows that, no matter which of the enantiotopic aldehyde groups was attacked first, the second addition step must be kinetically faster, most likely due to steric reasons and the presence of anionic charge in the intermediates. 

The yeast-mediated condensation of benzaldehyde with acetaldehyde is of particular interest since it represents one of the first industrially useful microbial transformations, with the acyloin produced being subsequently converted chemically to o-ephidrine. Other illustrations of synthetic value are the yeast-induced condensation of aldehyde (4a,b) with fermentatively generated acetaldehyde. The initially formed acyloins (5a,b) are not isolated but are further reduced, again with enantiotopic specificity, to give the pheromone synthon (6a R = 3-styryl) and the a-tocopherol chromanyl moiety precursor (6b R = 2-propenylfuran) respectively (Scheme 3). ... 

Asymmetric synthesis (1) Use a chiral auxiliary (chiral acetal—the synthetic equivalent of an aldehyde chiral hydrazone—the synthetic equivalent of a ketone) covalently attached to an achiral substrate to control subsequent bond formations. The auxiliary is later disconnected and recovered, if possible. (2) Use a chiral reagent to distinguish between enantiotopic faces or groups (asymmetric induction) to mediate formation of a chiral product. The substrate and reagent combine to form diastereomeric transition states. (3) Use a chiral catalyst to discriminate enantiotopic groups or faces in diastereomeric transition states but only using catalytic amounts of a chiral species. 

The second is referred to as diastereoface selection, that is, in many cases one carries out aldol reactions on aldehydes already having one or more chiral centers. The carbonyl faces in these molecules are diastereotopic rather then enantiotopic. 

The first enantioselective total synthesis of (-)-denticulatin A was accomplished by W. Oppolzer. The key step in their approach was based on enantiotopic group differentiation in a meso dialdehyde by an aldol reaction. In the aldol reaction they utilized a bornanesultam chiral auxiliary. The enolization of A/-propionylbornane-10,2-sultam provided the (Z)-borylenolate derivative, which underwent an aldol reaction with the meso dialdehyde to afford the product with high yield and enantiopurity. In the final stages of the synthesis they utilized a second, double-dlastereoditferentiating aldol reaction. Aldol reaction of the (Z)-titanium enolate gave the anf/-Felkin syn product. The stereochemical outcome of the reaction was determined by the a-chiral center in the aldehyde component. 

The reason why these enzymes have received considerable attention over the years is that they display a high degree of enantiotopic selectivity on the prochiral aldehyde and ketone substrates. The selectivity of these enzymes is in many instances masked by the rate of spontaneous racemization of the cyanohydrins, which are prone to racemization under non-acidic conditions. This balance of selectivity of the enzymes versus the competition with the spontaneous racemization reaction as a function of the pH was described as early as 1921 using the hydroxynitrile lyase enzyme from peach leaves [22], These early experiments describe one of the challenges of applying hydroxynitrile lyases on an industrial scale. 

Thus the faces of the carbonyl group in the aldehyde 1 are enantiotopic but after attachment of a chiral amine they become diastereotopic in the imine 2. The faces of the enolate of the ester 3 are enantiotopic but those of the enolate of the amide 4, after attachment of the Evans phenylalanine-derived oxazolidinone, are diastereotopic. 

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