Allyl amines to enamines

One of the landmark achievements in the area of enantioselective catalysis has been the development of a large-scale commercial application of the Rh(I)/BINAP-catalyzed asymmetric isomerization of allylic amines to enamines. Unfortunately, methods for the isomerization of other families of olefins have not yet reached a comparable level of sophistication. However, since the early 1990s promising catalyst systems have been described for enantioselective isomerizations of allylic alcohols and aUylic ethers. In view of the utility of catalytic asymmetric olefin isomerization reactions, I have no doubt that the coming years will witness additional exciting progress in the development of highly effective catalysts for these and related substrates. 

Ab Initio MO calculations of a model complex Rh(PH3)2(NH3)(CH2=CHCH2NH2) were earned out to shed light to the detailed mechanism of Rh(l)-catalyzed isomerization of allylic amines to enamines.5 This study suggests that the square-planar [RhiPHjyNHjXCf CHCHjNHj) complex is transformed to [Rh(PH3)2(NH3)(( )-CH3CH=CHNH2)]+ via intramolecular oxidative addition of the C(l)-H bond to the Rh(I) center, giving a distorted-octahedral Rh(lll) hydride intermediate, followed by reductive elimination accompanied by allylic transposition. 

Allylic double bonds can be isomerized by some transition metal complexes. Isomerization of alkyl allyl ethers 480 to vinyl ethers 481 is catalysed by Pd on carbon [205] and the Wilkinson complex [206], and the vinyl ethers are hydrolysed to aldehydes. Isomerization of the allylic amines to enamines is catalysed by Rh complexes [207]. The asymmetric isomerization of A jV-diethylgeranylamine (483), catalysed by Rh-(5)-BINAP (XXXI) complex to produce the (f )-enaminc 484 with high optical purity, has been achieved with a 300 000 turnover of the Rh catalyst, and citronellal (485) with nearly 100% ee is obtained by the hydrolysis of the enamine 484 [208]. Now optically pure /-menthol (486) is commerically produced in five steps from myrcene (482) via citronellal (485) by Takasago International Corporation. This is the largest industrial process of asymmetric synthesis in the world [209]. The following stereochemical corelation between the stereochemistries of the chiral Rh catalysts, diethylgeranylamine (483), diethylnerylamine (487) and the (R)- and (5)-enamines 484... 

A few molecular orbital calculations have been reported for these metallacycles. An ab initio study of a postulated azoniumrhodacyclopropane produced a structure in good agreement with known azoniummetallacyclopropanes. This as yet unknown heterocycle was studied because it has been proposed as an intermediate in the stereoselective isomerization of allyl amines to enamines... 

Scheme 6.1. Transition metal catalyzed 1,3-hydrogen shifts, (a) Metal hydride catalyst, (b) Metal catalyst, (c) Metal catalyzed rearrangement of allylic amines to enamines.

Allylic amines are coupled to halides giving either allylic amines or enamines depending on the reaction condition. Reaction of steroidal dienyl triflate with Boc-diprotected allylamine affords allylamine. Use of AcOK as a base is crucial for the clean coupling[102]. The tert-allylic amine 123 reacts with an aryl halide to give the enamine 125 in DMF and allylic amine 124 in nonpolar solvents[103]. 

Perhaps the most successful industrial process for the synthesis of menthol is employed by the Takasago Corporation in Japan.4 The elegant Takasago Process uses a most effective catalytic asymmetric reaction - the (S)-BINAP-Rh(i)-catalyzed asymmetric isomerization of an allylic amine to an enamine - and furnishes approximately 30% of the annual world supply of menthol. The asymmetric isomerization of an allylic amine is one of a large and growing number of catalytic asymmetric processes. Collectively, these catalytic asymmetric reactions have dramatically increased the power and scope of organic synthesis. Indeed, the discovery that certain chiral transition metal catalysts can dictate the stereo-... 

The isomerization of an allylic amine to an enamine by means of a formal 1,3-hydrogen shift constitutes a relatively small structural change. However, this transformation could be extremely valuable if it could be rendered stereoselective. In important early studies, Otsuka and Tani showed that a chiral cobalt catalyst, prepared in situ from a Co(ii) salt, a chiral phosphine, and diisobutylaluminum hydride (Dibal-H), can bring about the conversion of certain pro-chiral olefins to chiral, isomeric olefins by double bond migra-... 

The Rh(I)-catalyzed isomerization of prochiral allylic amines to optically active enamines is used for the giant-scale synthesis of citronellal, citronellol, menthol, and other fragrances (18)(Chapter 3). 7-Meth-oxydihydrocitronellal, thus prepared, is an insect growth regulator. All of these processes can be carried out economically and with extremely high optical yields. 

Like the synthesis of L-DOPA by asymmetric hydrogenation, the manufacture of L-menthol hy Takasago Company is also one of the early examples of an industrial process where asymmetric isomerization is a key step. The desired isomerization reaction is one of the steps of the overall synthetic scheme. The synthesis of L-menthol from diethyl geranylamine is shown by 9.2. The formal electron pair pushing mechanism for the isomerization of the allylic amine to the enamine proceeds according to reaction 9.3. 

Figure 6.1. (a) Contrathermodynamic isomerization of a trisub-stituted alkene to a disubstituted one. (b) Thermodynamically favored isomerization of an allylic amine to an enamine. 

The key step of the synthesis is the isomerisation of the allylic amine to the corresponding enamine. This is a simple reaction in which a hydrogen atom is moved from the first carbon to the third of the geranyl skeleton. The ingenious feature of this particular case is that the hydrogen atom is added to that third carbon atom from one face only and therefore results in the formation of a single enantiomer of the enamine. When this is hydrolysed, the citronellal produced, is entirely in the dextrorotatory form. The catalyst which performs this transformation is a complex of the Group VIII metal, rhodium. The catalyst which... 

Noyori has achieved the asymmetric catalytic isomerization of allylic amines to optically active enamines using his Rh -BINAP complex (see Chap. 14). This reaction, isomerization of geranyldiethylamine to ( )-enamine of (/f)-citronellal, is used in Japan as a key step in the synthesis of 1500 tons per year of (-)menthol starting from myrcene. The catalyst is recycled, which still increases its efficiency, and the total chiral multiplication reaches 400,000 mol product per mol catalyst. The optical purity of citronellal obtained (96-99%) is far larger than that of natural citronellal (82%). ... 

The formation of an enamine from an a,a-disubstituted cyclopentanone and its reaction with methyl acrylate was used in a synthesis of clovene (JOS). In a synthetic route to aspidospermine, a cyclic enamine reacted with methyl acrylate to form an imonium salt, which regenerated a new cyclic enamine and allowed a subsequent internal enamine acylation reaction (309,310). The required cyclic enamine could not be obtained in this instance by base isomerization of the allylic amine precursor, but was obtained by mercuric acetate oxidation of its reduction product. Condensation of a dihydronaphthalene carboxylic ester with an enamine has also been reported (311). 

The disclosure, in 1982, that cationic, enantiopure BINAP-Rh(i) complexes can induce highly enantioselective isomerizations of allylic amines in THF or acetone, at or below room temperature, to afford optically active enamines in >95 % yield and >95 % ee, thus constituted a major breakthrough.67-68 This important discovery emerged from an impressive collaborative effort between chemists representing Osaka University, the Takasago Corporation, the Institute for Molecular Science at Okazaki, Japan, and Nagoya University. BINAP, 2,2 -bis(diphenylphosphino)-l,l -binaphthyl (Scheme 7), is a fully arylated, chiral diphosphine which was introduced in... 

A synthesis of optically active citronellal uses myrcene (7), which is produced from P-pinene. Reaction of diethyl amine with myrcene gives AyV-diethylgeranyl- and nerylamines. Treatment of the allylic amines with a homogeneous chiral rhodium catalyst causes isomerization and also induces asymmetry to give the chiral enamines, which can be readily hydrolyzed to (H-)-citronellal (151). 

Ruthenium complexes mediate the hydroamination of ethylene with pyridine.589 The reaction, however, is not catalytic, because of strong complexation of the amine to metal sites. Iridium complexes with chiral diphosphine ligands and a small amount of fluoride cocatalyst are effective in inducing asymmetric alkene hydroamination reaction of norbomene with aniline [the best enantiomeric excess (ee) values exceed 90%].590 Strained methylenecyclopropanes react with ring opening to yield isomeric allylic enamines 591... 

---