Asymmetric chiral dendrimer

Keywords Chiral dendrimers, dendrimers, asymmetric synthesis, asymmetric catalysis. 

The stereogenic centers of chiral dendrimers synthesized so far are either generated by asymmetric synthesis, or they are derived from molecules of the pool of chiral building blocks. The only investigation on chiral dendrimers, consisting of achiral building blocks exclusively, was published by Meijer et al., who synthesized dendrimers such as 31 [61] (Fig. 14). This compound ows its chiral-... 

A number of groups have reported the preparation and in situ application of several types of dendrimers with chiral auxiliaries at their periphery in asymmetric catalysis. These chiral dendrimer ligands can be subdivided into three different classes based on the specific position of the chiral auxiliary in the dendrimer structure. The chiral positions may be located at, (1) the periphery, (2) the dendritic core (in the case of a dendron), or (3) throughout the structure. An example of the first class was reported by Meijer et al. [22] who prepared different generations of polypropylene imine) dendrimers which were substituted at the periphery of the dendrimer with chiral aminoalcohols. These surface functionalities act as chiral ligand sites from which chiral alkylzinc aminoalcoholate catalysts can be generated in situ at the dendrimer periphery. These dendrimer systems were tested as catalyst precursors in the catalytic 1,2-addition of diethylzinc to benzaldehyde (see e.g. 13, Scheme 14). 

In an effort to extend the use of the Pyrphos-derived dendrimers to asymmetric Pd-catalyzed coupling reactions, strongly positive selectivity effects were observed upon going to very large multi-site chiral dendrimer catalysts. This enhancement of the catalyst selectivity was observed in palladium-catalyzed allylic substitutions, such as that displayed in Scheme 3, which are known to be particularly sensitive to small changes in the chemical environment of the active catalyst sites [17]. 

As has been emphasized at the beginning of this overview of asymmetric den-drimer catalysis, the kinetically controlled stereoselection depends on very small increments of free activation enthalpy. It is therefore an excellent sensitive probe for dendrimer effects and will continue to be studied in this fundamental context. As mono dispersed macromolecules, chiral dendrimer catalysts provide ideal model systems for less regularly structured but commercially more viable supports such as hyperbranched polymers. 

Sharpless et al.l20b have constructed chiral dendrimers by employing the doubleexponential synthetic method.[20c] Chirality was induced via the use of aryl acetonide monomers prepared by asymmetric dihydroxylation (AD) of the corresponding prochiral alkenes. Each monomeric unit possessed two asymmetric carbons. Examples described are C3-symmetric and contain up to 45 chiral building blocks with 24 acetonide termini. 

Scheme 7.10. Preparation of chiral dendrimers via the attachment of benzyl ether dendrons to asymmetric, trigonal cores.

Brunner s concept (dendrizyme) of attaching dendrihc chiral wedges to a catalytically achve achiral metal complex represents the first example of asymmetric catalysis using a core-funchonalized dendrimer catalyst [21]. In view of the extremely poor asymmetric induction effected by the chiral dendritic shucture, the bulk of the attenhon has been focused on the immobilizahon of the well-established chiral hgands and/or their metal complexes into an achiral dendrimer core. The important early examples included TADDOL-centered chiral dendrimers, which were reported by Seebach et al. in 1999 [28]. In this section, we ahempt to summarize the recently reported chiral core-funchonalized dendrimers with special emphasis on their applications in asymmetric synthesis. 

The first example of a catalytically active metallodendrimer, having catalytic groups at the periphery, was reported by van Koten, van Leeuwen and coworkers [20]. These authors prepared the nickel(II) complexes containing carbosilane dendrimers, which were successfully employed in the homogeneous regioselective Kharasch addition of polyhalogenoalkanes to the terminal C=C double bonds. Since these early studies there has been a steadily increasing number of dendrimer catalysts which have been synthesized and studied [15]. In this section, the details of peripherally modified chiral dendrimer catalysts for different asymmetric catalytic reactions will be summarized. 

In contrast to the PAMAM-bound catalysts, chiral dendrimers based on rigid poly(phenylethyne) and flexible carbosilane backbones without heteroatoms proved to be highly efficient catalysts in such alkylation reactions. Excellent enantioselectivities in the asymmetric addition of dialkylzincs to aldehydes (up to 93% ee) and N-diphenylphosphinyli mines (up to 94% ee) were achieved. 

In 2005, Beilis and Kokotos synthesized a series of proline-based PPI chiral dendrimers possessing up to 126 proline end groups (Figure 4.38) [109]. These dendrimers were evaluated as the catalyst for asymmetric aldol reactions (Scheme 4.30). Using 6.5mol% of the second-generahon dendrimer catalyst, the products of the aldol reachons were obtained in moderate yields and enanhoselectivities (up... 

Solid-Supported Chiral Dendrimer Catalysts for Asymmetric Catalysis... 

Soluble dendrimers bearing catalytic centers located at the periphery can be covalently attached onto the surface of conventional solid supports (such as polymer beads or silica gels), leading to another type of solid-supported dendrimer catalyst. It is expected that this type of immobihzed catalysts would combine the advantages of both the traditional supported catalysts and the dendrimer catalysts. First, the catalytically active species at the dendrimer surface are more easily solvated, which makes the catalytic sites more available in the reaction solutions (relative to cross-hnked polymers). Second, the insoluble supported dendrimers are easily removed from the reaction mixtures as precipitates or via filtration (relative to soluble dendrimers). These solid-supported peripheraUy functionalized chiral dendrimer catalysts have attracted much attention over the past few years [12, 113], but their number of applications in asymmetric catalysis is very limited. 

During the effort to extend the use of the pyrphos-derived dendrimers to asymmetric Pd-catalyzed coupling reactions, strongly positive selectivity effects were observed upon going to very large multisite chiral dendrimer catalysts. 

To catalyze asymmetric transformations, catalytically active sites can be incorporated in different areas of a dendrimer a) chiral sites at the periphery, b) chiral sites in cavities or at the core, c) achiral sites which are surrounded by chiral branches in the interior of the dendrimer. 

Jacobsen et al. reported enhanced catalytic activity by cooperative effects in the asymmetric ring opening (ARO) of epoxides.[38] Chiral Co-salen complexes (Figure 4.27) were used, which were bound to different generations of commercial PAMAM dendrimers. As a direct consequence of the second-order kinetic dependence on the [Co(salen)] complex concentration of the hydrolytic kinetic resolution (HKR), reduction of the catalyst loading using monomeric catalyst leads to a sharp decrease in overall reaction rate. 

---