Aldol reaction proline mediated

A full kinetic study of the proline-mediated aldol reaction based on a detailed catalytic reaction mechanism will be published separately. 

Reaction progress kinetic analysis offers a reliable alternative method to assess the stability of the active catalyst concentration, again based on our concept of excess [e]. In contrast to our different excess experiments described above, now we carry out a set of experiments at the same value of excess [ej. We consider again the proline-mediated aldol reaction shown in Scheme 50.1. Under reaction conditions, the proline catalyst can undergo side reactions with aldehydes to form inactive cyclic species called oxazolidinones, effectively decreasing the active catalyst concentration. It has recently been shown that addition of small amounts of water to the reaction mixture can eliminate this catalyst deactivation. Reaction progress kinetic analysis of experiments carried out at the same excess [e] can be used to confirm the deactivation of proline in the absence of added water as well to demonstrate that the proline concentration remains constant when water is present. 

As with the above pyrrolidine, proline-type chiral auxiliaries also show different behaviors toward zirconium or lithium enolate mediated aldol reactions. Evans found that lithium enolates derived from prolinol amides exhibit excellent diastereofacial selectivities in alkylation reactions (see Section 2.2.32), while the lithium enolates of proline amides are unsuccessful in aldol condensations. Effective chiral reagents were zirconium enolates, which can be obtained from the corresponding lithium enolates via metal exchange with Cp2ZrCl2. For example, excellent levels of asymmetric induction in the aldol process with synj anti selectivity of 96-98% and diastereofacial selectivity of 50-200 116a can be achieved in the Zr-enolate-mediated aldol reaction (see Scheme 3-10). 

The proline-mediated intramolecular aldol condensation of dialdehyde substrates was also reported by List in 2003, affording enantioselective synthesis of cyclic p-hydroxy aldehydes via a 6-e ofexo-aldolization reaction (Scheme 11.7d). 

Enantioselective aldol reactions also can be used to create arrays of stereogenic centers. Two elegant ot-amino anion approaches have recently been published. Fujie Tanaka and Carlos F. Barbas III of the Scripps Institute, La Jolla, have shown (Org. Lett. 2004,6,3541) that L-proline catalyzes the addition of the aldehyde 6 to other aldehydes with high enantio- and diastereocontroJ. Keiji Maruoka of Kyoto University has developed (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2004,126,9685) a chiral phase transfer catalyst that mediates the addition of the ester 9 to aldehydes, again with high enantio- and diastcrcocontrol. 

The similarity between mechanisms of reactions between proline- and 2-deoxy-ribose-5-phosphate aldolase-catalyzed direct asymmetric aldol reactions with acetaldehyde suggests that a chiral amine would be able to catalyze stereoselective reactions via C-H activation of unmodified aldehydes, which could add to different electrophiles such as imines [36, 37]. In fact, proline is able to mediate the direct catalytic asymmetric Mannich reaction with unmodified aldehydes as nucleophiles [38]. The first proline-catalyzed direct asymmetric Mannich-type reaction between aldehydes and N-PMP protected a-ethyl glyoxylate proceeds with excellent chemo-, diastereo-, and enantioselectivity (Eq. 9). 

Another key event in the history of organocatalytic reaction was the discovery of efficient r-proline-mediated asymmetric Robinson annulation reported during the early 1970s. The so-called Hajos-Parrish-Eder-Sauer-Wiechert reaction (an intramolecular aldol reaction) allowed access to some of the key intermediates for the synthesis of natural products (Scheme 1.4) [37, 38], and offered a practical and enantioselective route to the Wieland-Miescher ketone [39]. It is pertinent to note, that this chemistry is rooted in the early studies of Langenbeck and in the extensive investigations work of Stork and co-workers on enamine chemistry... 

Scheme 1.5 The D-proline-mediated intramolecular aldol reaction in Woodward s erythromycin synthesis.

In 2002, Skrydstrup reported the diastereoselective construction of functionalised prolines using a Sml2-mediated aldol cyclisation.162 Treatment of p-lactam-derived a-benzoyloxy esters, such as 155, with Sml2 led to the generation of a Sm(III) enolate 156, aldol cyclisation and addition of the resultant samarium alkoxide to the (3-lactam carbonyl. The efficient sequential reaction gave proline derivatives, such as 157, with high diastereoselectivity and in good yield (Scheme 5.103).162 This example illustrates how the presence of a protic cosolvent does not necessarily interfere with the intramolecular aldol reaction and can in fact be crucial to the success of the cyclisation. 

Proline is effective in mediating an asymmetric transannular aldol reaction." ... 

In our illustration of the graphical manipulations of data using reaction progress kinetic analysis, we will make use of the example of a model reaction, the intermolecnlar aldol reaction between acetone 1 and aldehyde 2 to form the aldol addition product 3, mediated by proline 4, as shown in Scheme 27.1. The demonstration by List, Lemer, and Barbas in 2000 that proline mediates intermolecular aldol reactions with a high degree of asymmetric induction heralded a revolution in the field of organocatalysis, encompassing the discovery of new catalysts and new catalytic transformations." ... 

FIGURE 27.1 Monitoring reaction progress in the proline-mediated aldol reaction of Scheme 27.1 by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and reaction calorimetry. The data are manipulated in each case as illustrated in a graphical rate equation plotting rate versus substrate concentration for the limiting substrate. 

In 1971, Eder, Sauer, and Wiechert at Schering (72) and Hajos and Parrish at Hoffmann-La Roche 13,14) independently reported a proUne-catalyzed intramolecular aldol reaction of the triketone 16 as the key step in the synthesis of the diketone 17, a highly important intermediate in steroid synthesis. Remarkably, Hajos and Parrish obtained the diketone 18 in excellent yield and enantioselectivity with only 3 mol% of catalyst (Scheme 5). Acid-mediated dehydratiOTi then furnished the targeted 17. The accepted transition state for this reaction is believed to include one proline molecule as elucidated by List and Houk 21, 34). 

Developed in the early 1970s, this reaction, also called the Hajos-Parrish reaction or Hajos-Parrish-Ender-Sauer-Wiechert reaction, is one of the earliest processes for the stereoselective synthesis of Wieland-Miescher ketone, an important building block for steroids and terpenoid synthesis. This reaction is a proline mediated asymmetric variation to the Robinson annulation. Hajos and Parrish of Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. in 1971 and 1974 published an asymmetric aldol cyclization of triketones such as that of structure 39, which affords optically active annulation products in the presence of catalytic amounts of (S)-proline (Z-proline). One of the early examples is the synthesis of 41 from the triketone 39 (a product of the Michael addition of MVK to the corresponding 2-methylcyclopentane-l,3-dione), the reaction is performed in two steps first by ring formation in the presence of 3 mol % of (iS)-proline in DMF to afford the ketol 40 in 100% yield after crystallization with 93% ee and then by reaction with toluenesulfonic acid to give the dehydrated adduct 41. The formation of the Wieland-Miescher Ketone 44 follows the same synthetic route, starting from the tri-ketone 42 to give the end product in 75% optical purity and 99.8% of optical yield. 

More recently, Gryko reported an isolated example of a proline mediated cyclization of non-cyclic triketones.The reaction followed a domino Michael-Aldol pathway in the preparation of compound 29. The yields and % ee of these reactions are very solvent dependent and much lower than those reported for the Hajos-Wiechert reaction. Typically, the best results were obtained in NMP. 

Synthetic peptide dendrimers, catalytic antibodies, RNA catalysts, peptide foldamers as well as other native or modified enzymes with completely different fxmctions were discovered to catalyze carbon-carbon bond formation [15]. 4-Oxalocrotonate tau-tomerase (4-OT) catalyzes in vivo the conversion of 2-hydroxy-2,4-hexadienedioate (136) to 2-oxo-3-hexenedioate (137) (Scheme 10.33a), and it belongs to the catabolic pathway for aromatic hydrocarbons in P. putida mt-2 [200]. This enzyme carries a catalytic amino-terminal proline, which could act as catalyst in the same fashion as the proline mediated by organocatalytic reactions. Initial studies demonstrate that this enzyme was able to catalyze aldol condensations of acetaldehyde to a variety of electrophiles 138 (Scheme 10.33b) [200]. This enzyme was also examined as a potential catalyst for carbon-carbon bond forming Michael-type reactions of acetaldehyde to nitroolefins 139 (Scheme 10.33c) [201,202]. 

SCHEME 8.47. The proline-mediated asymmetric cross-aldol reaction by List and co-workers. 

Proline-mediated aldol reaction is an illustration of a case with a more complex off-cycle process (Fig. 9.52) with irreversible deactivation, including a decarboxylation step. 

---