Asymmetric 1,4-addition Michael acceptors

An excellent synthetic method for asymmetric C—C-bond formation which gives consistently high enantioselectivity has been developed using azaenolates based on chiral hydrazones. (S)-or (/ )-2-(methoxymethyl)-1 -pyrrolidinamine (SAMP or RAMP) are chiral hydrazines, easily prepared from proline, which on reaction with various aldehydes and ketones yield optically active hydrazones. After the asymmetric 1,4-addition to a Michael acceptor, the chiral auxiliary is removed by ozonolysis to restore the ketone or aldehyde functionality. The enolates are normally prepared by deprotonation with lithium diisopropylamide. 

The optically active a-sulfinyl vinylphosphonate 122 prepared in two different ways (Scheme 38) is an interesting reagent for asymmetric synthesis [80]. This substrate is an asymmetric dienophile and Michael acceptor [80a]. In the Diels-Alder reaction with cyclopentadiene leading to 123, the endo/exo selectivity and the asymmetry induced by the sulfinyl group have been examined in various experimental conditions. The influence of Lewis acid catalysts (which also increase the dienophilic reactivity) appears to be important. The 1,4-addition of ethanethiol gives 124 with a moderate diastereoselectivity. 

Chiral diaminocarbene complexes of copper were used in asymmetric conjugate addition of diethylzinc to Michael acceptors. Achiral copper carbene complexes derived from imidazolium salts were synthesized and characterized for the first time by Arduengo in 1993 [43]. In 2001, Woodward reported the use of such Arduengo-type carbene in copper-catalyzed conjugate addition and showed their strong accelerating effect [44]. The same year, Alex-... 

Nitroolefins are good Michael acceptors and their reactivity toward diethylzinc is different depending on the presence or absence of Lewis acids. Since the nitro group can be further transformed to a variety of useful containing functionalities,76,7641 the asymmetric 1,4-additions of nitroolefins may provide an easily accessible pathway to highly versatile optically active synthons. 

Nitroalkenes are excellent Michael acceptors, and asymmetric 1,4-additions to nitroalkenes (Scheme 7.22) provide access to highly versatile synthons, since the nitro group is readily reduced to the corresponding amine [74]. Seebach, employing a... 

Comparison with the Hajos-Parrish asymmetric version of the Robinson annulation [81] (Scheme 7.25(a)) shows the following distinct differences between the two methods. Firstly, the cycloalkenone in the Cu(OTf)2/ligand 18-catalyzed procedure is the Michael acceptor, whereas the cycloalkanone is the Michael donor in the proline-mediated annulation. Secondly, the asymmetric induction occurs in the 1,4-addition step in the new method, in contrast to the asymmetric aldol-cyclization in the Hajos-Parrish procedure. 

When nitroalkenes were used as Michael acceptors, high yields and enantioselectivities of the desired Michael addition products were also obtained (Scheme 5.22). In these reactions, a well-defined chiral Ru amido complex (Figure 5.9) was an efficient catalyst. The mild reaction conditions and high reactivities and stereoselectivities allowed a large-scale reaction in the presence 1 mol% Ru catalyst. By using a chiral Pd(II) catalyst, an asymmetric allylic arylation was reported by Mikami and coworkers to give the cross-couphng product via the activation of both allylic C H and aryl C H bonds in moderate enantioselectivity (Scheme 5.23). ... 

Tan also found that guanidine 21, acting as a base to activate the o [3], X [3] tautomers of diaryl phosphine oxides, catalyzes the asymmetric phospha-Michael reachon of aryl nitroalkenes (Scheme 5.42) [76]. He later employed 21 to realize highly enantioselective Michael additions of dithiomalonate and 3-keto thioesters with a range of acceptors, including maleimides, cyclic enones, furanone, and acyclic 1,4-dicarbonylbutenes [77]. 

In the presence of thiourea catalyst 122, the authors converted various (hetero) aromatic and aliphatic trons-P-nitroalkenes with dimethyl malonate to the desired (S)-configured Michael adducts 1-8. The reaction occurred at low 122-loading (2-5 mol%) in toluene at -20 to 20 °C and furnished very good yields (88-95%) and ee values (75-99%) for the respective products (Scheme 6.120). The dependency of the catalytic efficiency and selectivity on both the presence of the (thio) urea functionality and the relative stereochemistry at the key stereogenic centers C8/C9 suggested bifunctional catalysis, that is, a quinuclidine-moiety-assisted generation of the deprotonated malonate nucleophile and its asymmetric addition to the (thio)urea-bound nitroalkene Michael acceptor [279]. 

During our investigations on asymmetric C—C bond formation reactions via conjugate addition of SAMP hydrazones to various a,(3-unsaturated Michael acceptors, it occurred to us to use the chiral hydrazine auxiliary S AM P as a nitrogen nucleophile and a chiral equivalent of ammonia in aza-Michael additions. Thus, we developed diastereo- and enantioselective 1,4-additions for the synthesis of P-amino acids and P-aminosulfonates [14, 15]. 

The conjugate addition of phosphorus nucleophiles of various oxidation states and in neutral or metallated form constitutes an efficient and well-known method for C—P bond formation [30]. In the case of phosphanes as nucleophiles especially, the corresponding phosphane-borane adducts have been used in 1,4-additions to Michael acceptors. Following the idea to use a chirally modified phosphorus nucleophile in asymmetric Michael additions to aromatic nitroalkenes, we synthesized the new enantiopure phospite 45 starting from TADDOL (44) with nearly quantitative yield. Due to the C2 symmetry, of the... 

The synthesis of this compound represents a notable departure from those discussed above. The presence of the carbonyl group at the 9 position of the cyclopentane ring, which classifies this compound as a PGE, removes one asymmetric center and thus somewhat reduces the stereochemical complexity of the synthesis. More importantly, this introduces the possibility of attaching the lower side chain by means of a 1,4-addition reaction the tram relationship of the two side chains should be favored by thermodynamic considerations. The very unusual functionality of the required Michael acceptor, that of a cyclopent-2-en-4-ol-l-one, leads to a rather lengthy albeit straightforward synthesis for the requisite intermediate. 

A highly selective method for the preparation of optically active 3-substituted or 3, y-disubstituted-S-keto esters and related compounds is based on asymmetric Michael additions of chiral hydrazones (156), derived from (5)-l-amino-2-methoxymethylpyrrolidine (SAMP) or its enantiomer (RAMP), to unsaturated esters (154).167-172 Overall, a carbonyl compound (153) is converted to the Michael adduct (155) as outlined in Scheme 55. The actual asymmetric 1,4-addition of the lithiated hydrazone affords the adduct (157) with virtually complete diastereoselection in a variety of cases (Table 3). Some of the products were used for the synthesis of pheromones,169 others were converted to 8-lactones.170 The Michael acceptor (158) also reacts selectively with SAMP hydrazones.171 Tetrahydroquinolindiones of type (159) are prepared from cyclic 1,3-diketones via SAMP derivatives like (160), as indicated in Scheme 56.172... 

Arai et al. also reported another BINOL-derived two-center phase-transfer catalyst 31 for an asymmetric Michael reaction (Scheme 6.11) [8b]. Based on the fact that BINOL and its derivatives are versatile chiral catalysts, and that bis-ammonium salts are expected to accelerate the reaction due to the two reaction sites - thus preventing an undesired reaction pathway - catalyst 31 was designed and synthesized from the di-MOM ether of (S)-BINOL in six steps. After optimization of the reaction conditions, the use of 1 mol% of catalyst 31a promoted the asymmetric Michael reaction of glycine Schiff base 8 to various Michael acceptors, with up to 75% ee. When catalyst 31b or 31c was used as a catalyst, a lower chemical yield and selectivity were obtained, indicating the importance of the interaction between tt-electrons of the aromatic rings in the catalyst and substrate. In addition, the amine moiety in catalyst 31 had an important role in enantioselectivity (34d and 34e lower yield and selectivity), while catalyst 31a gave the best results. 

The use ofTaddol as an asymmetric phase-transfer catalyst has been adopted by other research groups. For example, Jaszay has used Taddol for Michael additions to a-aminophosphonate derivative 20, as shown Scheme 8.10 [22]. A range ofTaddol derivatives was investigated, but the best results were again obtained with the same catalyst employed by Belokon and Kagan. Thus, phosphoglutamic acid derivative 21 was obtained in 95% yield and with 72% ee when tert-butyl acrylate was employed as the Michael acceptor. 

An important issue is the right choice of substrate 1 which functions as an anion precursor. Successful organocatalytic conversions have been reported with indanones and benzophenone imines of glycine derivatives. The latter compounds are, in particular, useful for the synthesis of optically active a-amino acids. Excellent enantioselectivity has been reported for these conversions. In the following text the main achievements in this field of asymmetric organocatalytic nucleophilic substitutions are summarized [1, 2], The related addition of the anions 2 to Michael-acceptors is covered by chapter 4. 

The asymmetric addition of glycine enolates to acrylates was also achieved by use of the tartaric acid-derived phase-transfer catalysts 27 and 28 (Scheme 4.9). Arai, Nishida and Tsuji [13] showed that the C2-symmetric ammonium cations 27a,b afford up to 77% ee when t-butyl acrylate is used as acceptor. The cations 28 are the most effective/selective PTC identified by broad variation of the substituents present on both the acetal moiety and nitrogen atoms [14], In this study by Shibasaki et al. enantiomeric excesses up to 82% were achieved by use of the catalyst 28a (Scheme 4.9) [14], Scheme 4.9 also shows the structure of the guanidine 29 prepared by Ma and Cheng in the absence of additional base this also catalyzes the Michael addition of the glycine derivative 22 to ethyl acrylate, albeit with modest ee of 30% [15],... 

Chen and co-workers later reported the successful asymmetric 1,4-addition of aryl thiols to a,/ -unsaturated cyclic enones and imides using Takemoto s elegantly simple catalyst (3) [43]. This bifunctional amine-thiourea catalyst gives optimal reactivity and reproducibility when used at 10 mol% loading in the presence of freshly dried 4 A molecular sieves (MS). This combination afforded the expected addition products in high yields (90-99%) and moderate to good enantioselectiv-ities (55-85% ee) for a variety of cyclic and acyclic Michael acceptors (Table 6.2). 

Implied in the stoichiometry of their preparation is the full equivalent of transition metal relative to substrate. Indeed, to this day, cuprates tend to be used in excess in most smaller scale reactions. Over the past decade, however, there has been a noticeable shift toward development of methodology catalytic in Cu(I). The rationale behind the emphasis is in line with the times that is, environmental concerns have come to the fore, placing implied limits on the extent of transition metal usage. Therefore, notwithstanding favorable economic factors associated with copper, it being a base rather than precious metal, much effort has been devoted toward copper-catalyzed reactions, including cross-couplings to arrive at C-N, C-O, and C-H, in addition to C-C bonds. Moreover, tremendous strides have been made in asymmetric versions of perhaps the most fundamental of cuprate reactions 1,4-additions to Michael acceptors. 

In an asymmetric approach to the bicyclo[2.2.2]octane ring system, a double Michael addition has been employed using phenylmenthyl acrylate as the initial Michael acceptor. The condensation of the dienolate, generated with Lithium Diisopropylamide, reacts with the acrylate to afford the bicyclo[2.2.2]octane derivative (eq 6). The de for the reaction is only 50% however, it is highly endo selective (>95%). ... 

The Michael-type addition reaction of nucleophilic reagents with chirally modified a,jff-substituted carbonyl compounds constitutes the established methodology for the preparation of y9-substituted carbonyl compounds. The disadvantage of this type of asymmetric Michael reaction is the loading and disloading process of the chiral auxiliary on the Michael acceptor. However, this type of the reaction has been well documented to give the adduct with a high level of diastereoselectivity [83, 84]. 

The Michael addition of nucleophiles on oc,P-unsaturated electron withdrawing groups, often carbonyl-containing functional groups, is a widely used reaction for the formation of C—C or C—heteroatom bonds. When the Michael acceptor bears a substituent on the a-position to the carbonyl, then an asymmetric carbon is created upon protonation of the transient enolate generated by the nucleophilic addition (Scheme 7.9). 

Alkenes susceptible to Michael additions react with sulfur ylides to form cyclopropanes. Examples of typical ylides used in the cyclopropanation reaction of Michael acceptors are presented in Scheme 4. Best results were obtained with stabilized ylides, i.e. ylides of type C, D or E, and yields were enhanced with increase of the electron-withdrawing capacity of the anion stabilizing group in the alkene. The mechanism of the cyclopropanation reaction (Scheme 5) is known, and proceeds in a nonstereospecific manner. The E/Z geometry of the alkene is frequently retained in the product and a high degree of asymmetric induction can be achieved with optically active Michael acceptors or ylides. 

With regard to the catalytic asymmetric reaction , only a few successful examples, except those reactions using chiral transition metal complexes, have been reported. For example, the cinchona-alkaloid-catalyzed asymmetric 1,4-addition of thiols or 6-keto esters to Michael acceptors quinidine catalyzed the asymmetric addition of ketene to chloral and the highly enantioselective 1,4-addition of ) -keto esters in the presence of chiral crown ethers to Michael acceptors have been most earnestly studied. 

As described in Section 6.2.1.1, earlier application of conjugate addition involved transferable aluminum hydrides and alkyls. This section is devoted to asymmetric conjugate addition using a chiral aluminum catalyst and newer aspects that enable substrate generality wifh respect to both Michael acceptor and donor components, by use of well-designed aluminum reagents. 

The thiazolium-catalyzed addition of an aldehyde-derived acyl anion with a Michael acceptor (Stetter reaction) is a well-known synthetic tool leading to the synthesis of highly funtionalized products. Recent developments in this area include the thiazolylalanine-derived catalyst 191 for asymmetric intramolecular Stetter reaction of a,P-unsaturated esters <05CC195>. However, these cyclizations proceed only in moderate enantioselectivities and yields even under optimized conditions. Thiazolium salt 191 has been used successfully for enantioselective intermolecular aldehyde-imine cross coupling reactions <05JA1654>. Treatment of tosylamides 194 with aryl aldehydes in the presence of 15 mol% of 191 and 2... 

---