Alkyl-imines, enantioselective

Table 34.4 Selected results for the enantioselective hydrogenation of N-alkyl imines and enamines (for structures, see Fig. 34.7) Catalytic system, reaction conditions, enantioselectivity, productivity and activity.

A highly enantioselective direct Mannich reaction of simple /V-Boc-aryl and alkyl- imines with malonates and /1-kclo esters has been reported.27 Catalysed by cinchona alkaloids with a pendant urea moiety, bifunctional catalysis is achieved, with the urea providing cooperative hydrogen bonding, and the alkaloid giving chiral induction. With yields and ees up to 99% in dichloromethane (DCM) solvent, the mild air- and moisture-tolerant method opens up a convenient route to jV-Boc-amino acids. 

Nucleophilic carbon radicals can C-alkylate imines, a process which is found to be substantially facilitated by an o-phenolic substituent as in e.g. (32).85 The hydroxyl is presumed to stabilize an intermediate aminyl radical. An enantioselective version of the reaction is also reported. 

Some bifunctional 6 -OH Cinchona alkaloid derivatives catalyse the enantioselective hydroxyalkylation of indoles by aldehydes and a-keto esters.44 Indole, for example, can react with ethyl glyoxylate to give mainly (39) in 93% ee. The enan- tioselective reaction of indoles with iV-sulfonyl aldimines [e.g. (40)] is catalysed by the Cu(OTf)2 complex of (S)-benzylbisoxazoline (37b) to form 3-indolylmethanamine derivatives, in up to 96% ee [e.g. (41a)] 45 Some 9-thiourea Cinchona alkaloids have been found to catalyse the formation of 3-indolylmethanamines [e.g. (41b)] from indoles and /V-PhS02-phenyli mines in 90% ee.46 Aryl- and alkyl-imines also give enantioselective reactions. 

Scheme 26.13). On the basis of this strategy, aryl and alkyl imines were converted to the respective amines with excellent enantioselectivity. 

Cho and Chun reported an effective stoichiometric reduction of aromatic ketone N-phenylimines 63 using la-BHj or Za BHj to give the desired N-phenylamine 64 with good enantioselectivities (Table 11.10) [87]. The reduction was also effective when 0.1 equiv of la or 2a was used (runs 2 and 4). BHj THF as borane reagent in this reduction led to the J amine, whereas CB furnished the S amine (runs 8 and 9) [88]. For N-alkyl imine analogues, the reduction of N-tert-butyl imine of acetophenone provided 80% ee (run 12). However, reductions of other N-alkyl imine derivatives of the same ketone (runs 10, 11, 13 and 17) and N-phenyl or N-alkyl imine derivatives of... 

Mannich Reaction Carbamate-protected alkyl imines are important building blocks in the synthesis of chiral alkyl amines. However, they are usually unstable, and most of them cannot be prepared in pure form. As the optimal substitutes, a-amido sulfones 142 were first used in the PTC-catalyzed enantioselective aza-Henry reaction in 2005 [57]. Subsequently, Song et al. reported a chiral Cinchona alkaloid thiourea (130b)-catalyzed Mannich reaction with in situ generation of... 

At the same time. Sun et al. developed another type of activators based on pipecolinic acids A 8 and A 9. These showed excellent yields (95%) as well as enantioselectivities (92%) and were able to reduce aryl-alkyl imines almost in the same manner as acetophenone derived ones. The first approach using C2-symmetrical activators, in particular tetraamide A 10 showed potential but resulted in lower yield and ee compared with A 8. A subsequent investigation of these symmetrical activators led to chiral sulfina-mides A 11 and A 12. The monosulfinamide A 11 forms in situ a dimer and therefore can chelate the silane as well as the bis-sulfinamide A 12 (Figure 32.7). ... 

Preliminary experiments prove that the substitution pattern of the /V-aryl moiety of imine 1 is crucial for the stereoselectivity of this reaction. The 2-substituent on the aryl group is of special importance. Namely, introduction of a methoxy group leads to a considerable decrease of enantioselectivity compared to the corresponding 2-H derivative, probably due to disfavor-able coordination with the organolithium complex. In contrast, alkyl groups show the reverse effect along with increased bulkiness (e.g., Tabic 1, entries l-3a) but 2,6-dimethyl substitution provides lower ee values. Furthermore, the 4-substituent of the TV-aryl moiety is of minor importance for the stereoselectivity of the reaction [the Ar-phcnyl and the /V-(4-methoxyphenyl) derivatives give similar results], whereas a substituent in the 3-position results in lower stereoselectivities (e.g., Et, Cl, OCHj)41. 

An attractive alternative to these novel aminoalcohol type modifiers is the use of 1-(1-naphthyl)ethylamine (NEA, Fig. 5) and derivatives thereof as chiral modifiers [45-47]. Trace quantities of (R)- or (S)-l-(l-naphthyl)ethylamine induce up to 82% ee in the hydrogenation of ethyl pyruvate over Pt/alumina. Note that naphthylethylamine is only a precursor of the actual modifier, which is formed in situ by reductive alkylation of NEA with the reactant ethyl pyruvate. This transformation (Fig. 5), which proceeds via imine formation and subsequent reduction of the C=N bond, is highly diastereoselective (d.e. >95%). Reductive alkylation of NEA with different aldehydes or ketones provides easy access to a variety of related modifiers [47]. The enantioselection occurring with the modifiers derived from NEA could be rationalized with the same strategy of molecular modelling as demonstrated for the Pt-cinchona system. 

Bode and co-workers have extended the synthetic ntility of homoenolates to the formation of enantiomerically enriched IV-protected y-butyrolactams 169 from saccharin-derived cyclic sulfonylimines 167. While racemic products have been prepared from a range of P-alkyl and P-aryl substitnted enals and substitnted imi-nes, only a single example of an asymmetric variant has been shown, affording the lactam prodnct 169 with good levels of enantioselectivity and diastereoselectivity (Scheme 12.36) [71], As noted in the racemic series (see Section 12.2.2), two mechanisms have been proposed for this type of transformation, either by addition of a homoenolate to the imine or via an ene-type mechanism. 

Optically active /3-ketoiminato cobalt(III) compounds based on chiral substituted ethylenedi-amine find use as efficient catalysts for the enatioselective hetero Diels Alder reaction of both aryl and alkyl aldehydes with l-methoxy-(3-(t-butyldimethylsilyl)oxy)-1,3-butadiene.1381 Cobalt(II) compounds of the same class of ligands promote enantioselective borohydride reduction of ketones, imines, and a,/3-unsaturated carboxylates.1382... 

In contrast, testing substrates in Scheme 2-59 demonstrates that alkyl-substituted imines undergo the addition of HCN with considerably lower ee. (For R = cyclohexyl, 57% ee and 37% ee for R = r-butyl.) The A-substituent does not exert a significant influence on the enantioselectivity of the reaction. 

Zr-Catalyzed Enantioselective Imine Alkylations with Alkylzinc Reagents... 

As is also illustrated in Scheme 6.23, the optically enriched amino nitriles can be converted to the corresponding a-amino esters through a four-step sequence (74—> 75). Unlike the aforementioned imine alkylations with alkylzinc reagents, methylation of the phenolic OH is required, since the corresponding o-methoxy aniline is less reactive and affords significantly lower enantioselectivities similar observations are made when aniline is used. 

The studies summarized above clearly bear testimony to the significance of Zr-based chiral catalysts in the important field of catalytic asymmetric synthesis. Chiral zircono-cenes promote unique reactions such as enantioselective alkene alkylations, processes that are not effectively catalyzed by any other chiral catalyst class. More recently, since about 1996, an impressive body of work has appeared that involves non-metallocene Zr catalysts. These chiral complexes are readily prepared (often in situ), easily modified, and effect a wide range of enantioselective C—C bond-forming reactions in an efficient manner (e. g. imine alkylations, Mannich reactions, aldol additions). 

The efficient enantioselective alkylation of the P/y-unsaturated ester 39 was achieved1351 by use of the N-anthracenylmethyl catalyst 12 (R=benzyl, X=Br) together with CsOH-H20 under phase transfer conditions analogous to those in the alkylation of the O Donnell imine 23, as shown in Scheme 13. The enantioselectivity of the alkylation correlates with Hammett o constants, and the N,N-dimethylamino substituents in 39 showed the most effective enantioselectivity. The tight ion pair in which the enolate... 

R Lygo, J. Crosby, J. A Peterson, Enantioselective Alkylation of Alanine-Derived Imines Using Quaternary Ammonium Catalysts , Tetrahedron Lett. 1999, 40, 8671-8674. 

J. J. Eddine, M. Cherqaoui, Chiral Quaternary Benzo-phenone Hydrazonium Salt Derivatives Efficient Chiral Catalysts for the Enantioselective Phase-Transfer Alkylation of Imines. Application to Synthesis of Chiral Primary Amines , Tetrahedron Asymmetry 1995, 6, 1225-1228. 

Furthermore, a highly efficient route to A-tert-butoxycarbonyl (Boc)-protected p-amino acids via the enantioselective addition of silyl ketene acetals to Al-Boc-aldimines catalyzed by thiourea catalyst 4 has been reported (Scheme 12.2)." From a steric and electronic standpoint, the A-Boc imine substrates used in this reaction are fundamentally different from the A-alkyl derivatives used in the Strecker reaction. 

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