Asymmetric amplification catalytic reactions

While investigating the reaction of ZnPf2 with pyrimidine-5-carboxaldehyde 190, the Soai group made the important discovery that these two compounds reacted in the presence of a catalytic amount of (enantiomeric purity (as low as 2%) to furnish the same alcohol as the addition product with ee s up to 89% (Scheme 106). This most remarkable finding was the first case of asymmetric amplification in autocatalytic reactions.275... 

Keck reported an asymmetric allylation with a catalytic amount of chiral titanium catalyst [24]. The enantioselective addition of methallylstannane to aldehydes is promoted by a chiral catalyst 13 prepared from chiral BINOL and Ti(0-i-Pr)4 (Scheme 9.10). An example of asymmetric amplification was reported by using (R)-BINOL of 50% ee, and the degree of asymmetric amplification was dependent on the reaction temperature. Tagliavini also observed an asymmetric amplification in the enantioselective allylation with a BIN0L-Zr(0-i-Pr)2 catalyst [25]. 

The most fully understood system in this class of reactions, however, is the DAIB-catalyzed addition of diethylzinc to aldehydes, due to the very detailed mechanistic studies performed by Noyori et al.32-37 They were able to determine the structure of several intermediates involved in the reaction and established the kinetic law. Part of the catalytic cycle is depicted in Scheme 13. The origin of the asymmetric amplification lies in the formation of dimers of DAIB-zinc alkoxides. The heterochiral dimer is quite stable in the concentration range of the experiment (2 x 10 1 to 5 x 10 1 M in toluene for DAIB), whereas the homodimers are prone to dissociation and react further with diethylzinc to give a di-zinc complex that is the active species in the catalytic cycle. They react with benzaldehyde and give rise to the asymmetric transfer of the ethyl group. The final product, as a zinc alkoxide, does not interfere with the reaction (and hence there is no autoinduction), since it... 

Oguni has reported asymmetric amplification [12] ((-i-)-NLE) in an asymmetric carbonyl addition reaction of dialkylzinc reagents catalyzed by chiral ami-noalcohols such as l-piperidino-3,3-dimethyl-2-butanol (PDB) (Eq. (7.1)) [13]. Noyori et al. have reported a highly efficient aminoalcohol catalyst, 2S)-3-exo-(dimethylamino)isobomeol (DAIB) [14] and a beautiful investigation of asymmetric amplification in view of the stability and lower catalytic activity of the het-ero-chiral dimer of the zinc aminoalcohol catalyst than the homo-chiral dimer (Fig. 7-5). We have reported a positive non-linear effect in a carbonyl-ene reaction [15] with glyoxylate catalyzed by binaphthol (binol)-derived chiral titanium complex (Eq. (7.2)) [10]. Bolm has also reported (-i-)-NLE in the 1,4-addition reaction of dialkylzinc by the catalysis of nickel complex with pyridyl alcohols [16]. 

Nonlinear effects is becoming very common (see Ref. [115] for a review) and is often a mechanistic tool. Asymmetric amplification has been discovered in many different kinds of catalytic reactions (for a recent review, see Ref. [ 116]). It has also been very useful in the devising of efficient asymmetric autocatalytic systems [117]. 

In addition to the above reactions, asymmetric amplification has been detected in many different types of reactions, some are listed below. A catalytic... 

Non-linear effects were discovered in 1986 [5]. They are now widely recognized in many catalytic reactions, and provide a useful tool for mechanistic investigations. Moreover, they can have some practical applications. For example, in the case of asymmetric amplification it is not necessary to perform a costly complete resolution of a chiral ligand if the reaction involves a strong (-i-)-NLE. The concept of non-linearity has been extended to mixtures of diastereomeric ligands (vide supra). Finally, asymmetric amplification is very useful in reactions which display asymmetric autocatalysis, giving high levels of enantioselectivity after initiation with a catalyst of very low ee. 

Mikami and coworkers conducted the Diels-Alder reaction with a catalyst prepared by mixing enantiomerically pure R)-56 and racemic 56 and observed a positive nonlinear effect however, they found no asymmetric amplification when they prepared the catalyst by mixing enantiomerically pure R)-56 and enantiomerically pure (S)-56 (i.e., linear correlation between catalyst and product ee). Introduction of molecular sieves restores the asymmetric amplification in the latter case, apparently by equilibration of R) R) and (S)(S) dimers into catalytically less active R) S) dimers. As expected, the reaction rate was faster for R)-56 than for ( )-56 derived from racemic binaphthol hgand ca. 5-fold faster). 

The high value of catalytically performed reactions as compared to non-catalytic variants is particularly evidenced in the field of enantioselective reactions. Chemists cannot complete enantioselective reactions without certain chiral information in the reacting system. This information is regularly derived from the chiral compounds present in nature, collectively named the chiral pool of the nature. Their availability is often limited, which is not an issue when they are used as catalysts, but causes significant costs of non-catalytic reactions when they are needed in equimolar quantities. The practical value of the catalytic approach to enantioselective processes cannot be overestimated. Asymmetric catalysis characterizes the amplification of chirality one chiral molecule of the catalyst generates an enormous number of chiral molecules of the product in the optically pure form. This results with high chiral economy of catalytically performed enantioselective syntheses. 

When a kinetic resolution is carried out using enantioimpure catalysts, which do not interact with one another, the reaction network must be expanded. H.I. Kagan discovered the first examples of nonlinear effects (NLEs) in asymmetric catalysis, where there was no proportionality between the ee of the auxiliary and the ee of product (Fig. 5.37) and gave some mathematical models to discuss these effects. The NLE originates from the formation of diastereomeric species when the chiral auxiliary is not enantiomericaUy pure, either inside or outside the catalytic cycle. The observed effects were classified as (+)-NLE and (—)-NLE, where "asymmetric amplification" and "asymmetric depletion" respectively occurred. 

It has recently been found that Et2Zn promotes the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of nitrile oxides to allyl alcohol in the presence of catalytic amounts of diisopropyl tartrate (DIPT). By this method, 2-isoxazlines are obtained in good yields and up to 96% ee (Eq. 8.73).124a A positive nonlinear effect (amplification of ee of the product) has been observed in this reaction. There is an excellent review on positive and negative nonlinear effects in asymmetric induction.124b... 

The asymmetric catalytic aldol reaction of a silyl enol ether can be performed in a double and two-directional fashion to give the 1 2 adduct in the silyl enol ether form with >99% ee and 99% de in 77% isolated yield (Scheme 8C.25) [59]. The present catalytic asymmetric aldol reaction is characterized by a kinetic amplification phenomenon of the product chirality, going from the one-directional aldol intermediate to the two-directional product (Figure 8C.8). Further transformation of the pseudo C2 symmetric product, while still being protected as the silyl enol ether, leads to a potent analog of an HIV protease inhibitor. 

It was soon recognized that in specific cases of asymmetric synthesis the relation between the ee of a chiral auxiliary and the ee of the product can deviate from linearity [17,18,72 - 74]. These so-called nonlinear effects (NLE) in asymmetric synthesis, in which the achievable eeprod becomes higher than the eeaux> represent chiral amplification while the opposite case represents chiral depletion. A variety of NLE have been found in asymmetric syntheses involving the interaction between organometallic compounds and chiral ligands to form enantioselective catalysts [74]. NLE reflect the complexity of the reaction mechanism involved and are usually caused by the association between chiral molecules during the course of the reaction. This leads to the formation of diastereoisomeric species (e.g., homochiral and heterochiral dimers) with possibly different relative quantities due to distinct kinetics of formation and thermodynamic stabilities, and also because of different catalytic activities. 

This book illustrates the recent aspects of amplification of chirality by asymmetric auto catalysis and by forming helical structures. The first four chapters summarize experimental asymmetric autocatalysis with amplification of enan-tiopurity, the mechanism of asymmetric autocatalysis examined by NMR and calculation, the computer simulation models of the reaction mechanism of asymmetric auto catalysis, and the theoretical models of amplification of chirality. The last chapter deals with the amplification of chirality by the formation of helical structures. However, the amplification of enantiopurity in non-auto catalytic asymmetric reaction and the amplification by enantiomer separation involving crystallization or sublimation are beyond the scope of this book. 

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