Asymmetric Alkene Cyclopropanation Reactions

Rh2(5-DOSP)4 (70) provided the corresponding cyclopropanated product 71 in 80% yield and with high diastereoselectivity ( -71a) (Z-71b) 3 1 and enantioselectivity (up to 93%). 

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The complex [Fe(D4-TmAP)Cl] with Halterman s porphyrin ligand can effect asymmetric alkene cyclopropanation with diazoacetate in high product yield and high stereoselectivity [57]. The reaction occurs smoothly at room temperature without the need for addition of CoCp2, affording the cyclopropyl esters... 

The catalytic asymmetric cyclopropanation of an alkene, a reaction which was studied as early as 1966 by Nozaki and Noyori,63 is used in a commercial synthesis of ethyl (+)-(lS)-2,2-dimethylcyclo-propanecarboxylate (18) by the Sumitomo Chemical Company (see Scheme 5).64 In Aratani s Sumitomo Process, ethyl diazoacetate is decomposed in the presence of isobutene (16) and a catalytic amount of the dimeric chiral copper complex 17. Compound 18, produced in 92 % ee, is a key intermediate in Merck s commercial synthesis of cilastatin (19). The latter compound is a reversible... 

Cyclopropanation reactions can be promoted using copper or rhodium catalysts or indeed systems based on other metals. As early as 1965 Nozaki showed that chiral copper complexes could promote asymmetric addition of a carbenoid species (derived from a diazoester) to an alkene. This pioneering study was embroidered by Aratani and co-workers who showed a highly enantioselective process could be obtained by modifying the chiral copper... 

The popularity of Cu(acac)2, where acac = acetylacetonato, as a precatalyst in alkene cyclopropanation using diazoesters has led to the investigation of chiral 1,3-dicarbonyls as a source of asymmetric induction in this process. Mathn et al. (26) report a selective cyclopropanation of styrene with a dimedone-derived diazocarbonyl in the presence of a camphor-derived diketone, Eq. 12. The reaction is con-... 

Carbenoids derived from the aryldiazoacetates are excellent donor/acceptor systems for the asymmetric cyclopropanation reaction [22]. Methyl phenyldiazoacetate 3 cyclopropanation of monosubstituted alkenes catalyzed by Rh2(S-DOSP)4 is highly diaster-eo- and enantioselective (Tab. 14.5) [22]. Higher enantioselectivities can be obtained when these reactions are performed at -78°C, as the catalyst maintains high solubility and activity at this temperature. The phenyldiazoacetate system has been evaluated using many popular rhodium(II) and copper catalysts the rhodium(ll) prolinates have proven to be superior catalysts for this class of carbenoids [37, 38]. 

Catalytic asymmetric cyclopropanations via carbene transfer to alkenes were reviewed by Singh and co-workers in 1997," Doyle and Protopopova in 1998," and mostly recently by Doyle in 2000." The reaction can be catalyzed by copper," rhodium," and other metals." Bis(oxazolines) are known to be among the most effective ligands for this cyclopropanation reaction (see Chapter 9). 

The range of alkenes that may be used as substrates in these reactions is vast Suitable catalysts may be chosen to permit use of ordinary alkenes, electron deficient alkenes such as a,(3-unsaturated carbonyl compounds, and very electron rich alkenes such as enol ethers. These reactions are generally stereospecific, and they often exhibit syn stereoselectivity, as was also mentioned for the photochemical reactions earlier. Several optically active catalysts and several types of chiral auxiliaries contained in either the al-kene substrates or the diazo compounds have been studied in asymmetric cyclopropanation reactions, but diazocarbonyl compounds, rather than simple diazoalkanes, have been used in most of these studies. When more than one possible site of cyclopropanation exists, reactions of less highly substituted alkenes are often seen, whereas the photochemical reactions often occur predominantly at more highly substituted double bonds. However, the regioselectivity of the metal-catalyzed reactions can be very dependent upon the particular catalyst chosen for the reaction. 

Although cobalt catalysts have been rarely used in cyclopropanation reactions, Nakamura and coworkers2 1 have developed the camphor-based complex (35) as a useful asymmetric catalyst, as shown in a typical example in equation (16). High yields were obtained with dienes and styrenes but cyclopropanation did not occur with simple alkenes. Studies with cu-ife-styrene showed that, unlike other catalytic systems, the reaction was not stereospecific with respect to alkene geometry. 

One of the earliest enantioselective carbon-carbon bond-forming processes catalyzed by chiral transition-metal complexes is asymmetric cyclopropanation discussed in Chapter 5, which can proceed via face-selective carbometallation of carbene-metal complexes. Some other more recently developed enantioselective carbon-carbon bond forming reactions, such as Pd-catalyzed enantioselective alkene-CO copolymerization (Chapter 7) and Pd-catalyzed enantioselective alkene cyclization (Chapter 8.7), are thought to involve face-selective carbometallation of acy 1-Pd and carbon-Pd bonds, respectively (Scheme 4.4). Similarly, the asymmetric Pauson-Khand reaction catalyzed by chiral Co complexes most likely involves face-selective cyclic carbometallation of chiral alkyne-Co complexes (Chapter 8,7). 

Among the transition-metal catalysts that have been used, only those of Pd(II) are productive with diazomethane, which may be the result in cyclopropanation reactions [7,9,21] of a mechanism whereby the Pd-coordinated alkene undergoes electrophilic addition to diazomethane rather than by a metal carbene transformation in any case, asymmetric induction does not occur by using Pd(II) complexes of chiral bis-oxazolines [22],... 

Callot and co-workers established in 1982 that iodorhodium(III) porphyrin complexes could be used as cyclopropanation catalysts with diazo esters and alkenes with c/.s-disubstituted alkenes these catalysts provide preferential production of cis(syn) disubsdtutcd cyclopropancs (syn/anti up to 3.3 with 1,4-cyclohexadiene) [72], More recently, chiral porphyrins have been designed and prepared by Kodadek and co-workers [73], and their iodorhodium(lll) complexes have been examined for asymmetric induction in catalytic cyclopropanation reactions [74,751. The intent here has been to affix chiral attachments onto the four porphyrin positions that are occupied in tetraphenylporphyrin by a phenyl group. Iodorhodium(III) catalysts with chiral binaphthyl (27, called chiral wall porphyrin [74]) and the structurally analogous chiral pyrenyl-naphthyl (28,... 

An asymmetric Simmons-Smith reaction was reported by Kang et al. [18]. The reaction of (3-D-fructopyranoside 13 with a,(3-unsaturated aldehydes gave enrfo-acetals 14 along with exo-isomers 15 in a ratio of about 1.5 1. The enrfo-acetals afforded the best selectivity, typically giving (2/f,3/f)-hydroxymethyl cyclopropanes 17 with up to 85% ee. It should be noted that the corresponding exo-acetals 15 underwent the cyclopropanation reaction with lower stereoselectivity. In these cases, the group cannot effectively block either side of the alkene in contrast to the endo-isomer [18] (Scheme 10.3). 

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. 

The cyclopropanation reaction with metal salts is readily amenable to asymmetric induction in the presence of a chiral ligand, and some excellent enantioselectivi-ties have been achieved. Particularly effective are the bisoxazoline ligands, developed by Pfaltz, Masamune and Evans. Both enantiomers of the chiral ligand are available and the reaction is amenable to a wide variety of different alkenes. For example, very high selectivity in favour of the cyclopropane 118 was achieved using only small amounts of the bisoxazoline ligand 117 and copper triflate (4.94). 

Cyclopropanation Reactions. Davies and Nagashima reported the first example of a catalytic asymmetric cyclopropanation of alkenes on a solid support. Carbene dimerization represents a limitation in solution phase, lowering yields and necessitating additional purification steps. Immobilization of the olefin 97 on a polystyrene diethylsilyl resin followed by reaction with various diazoacetates in the presence of a rhodium catalyst generated the cyclopropanes 98 and 99 in high yield and enabled the removal of dimerization products 102 through a simple wash step (Scheme 6.23). The products 100 and 101 were cleaved as a mixture of diastereomers from the resin under mild conditions. The stereoselectivity of the reaction was not influenced by the solid support, but rather by the catalyst selection most important, >90% ee was observed under these conditions. 

As expected, increasing the size of the R group increases enantioselection, and the buttressing effect on the bis-oxazoline ring caused by the geminal disubstitution in 10 provides further enhancement of enantiocontrol. From the results in Table S.4, however, the ligand s R substituent has only a minor influence on the trans.cis of cyclopropane products. To increase product diastereoselectivity, Evans [40] increased the size of the ester substituent from ethyl to te/t-butyl and then to the bulky BHT ester, previously reported by Doyle [43] to provide exceptional diastereocontrol in catalytic cyclopropanation reactions. Applications of these catalysts to alkenes other than styrene have demonstrated the potential generality of their uses for asymmetric intermolecular cyclopropanation (Table 5.5). 

Since their first introduction by Brunner and McKervey as chiral catalysts for the asymmetric cyclopropanation of alkenes with diazo compounds, chiral dirhodium tetra(A-arylsulfonylprolinates) complexes have been widely used by Davies,in particular, in the context of these reactions. Therefore, the use of... 

The development of this reaction over the subsequent 50 years placed it, along with the Rh(II) variant, as the method of choice for the catalytic cyclopropanation of alkenes. A number of reviews have recently appeared detailing the advances in cyclopropanation (5-10). This reaction remains one of the most recognizable copper-catalyzed asymmetric transformations as evidenced by the plethora of publications utilizing it as a testing ground for new ligands. 

Organozinc species RXZnCH2l generated by reacting Zn(CH2l)2 with RXH (e.g. ROH or CF3CO2H) have been explored as effective agents for cyclopropanation of alkenes at room temperature chiral alcohols (RXH) induce asymmetric reaction. 

The cyclopropanation utilizing donor/acceptor rhodium carbenoids can be extended to a range of monosubstituted alkenes, occurring with very high asymmetric induction (Tab. 14.4) [40]. Reactions with electron-rich alkenes, where low enantioselectivity was observed at room temperature, could be drastically improved using the more hydrocarbon-soluble Rh2(S-DOSP)4 catalyst at -78°C. The highest enantioselectivity is obtained when a small ester group such as a methyl ester is used [40], a trend which is the opposite to that seen with the unsubstituted diazoacetate system [16]. 

In contrast to the intermolecular cyclopropanation, the dirhodium tetraprolinates give modest enantioselectivities for the corresponding intramolecular reactions with the do-nor/acceptor carbenoids [68]. For example, the Rh2(S-DOSP)4-catalyzed reaction with al-lyl vinyldiazoacetate 32 gives the fused cyclopropane 33 in 72% yield with 72% enantiomeric excess (Eq. 4) [68]. The level of asymmetric induction is dependent upon the substitution pattern of the alkene cis-alkenes and internally substituted alkenes afford the highest asymmetric induction. Other rhodium and copper catalysts have been evaluated for reactions with vinyldiazoacetates, but very few have found broad utility [42]. 

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