Asymmetric phase-transfer catalysis 1,4-addition

The aim of this book is to provide a concise and comprehensive treatment of this continuously growing field of catalysis, focusing not only on the design of the various types of chiral phase-transfer catalyst but also on the synthetic aspects of this chemistry. In addition, the aim is to promote the synthetic applications of these asymmetric phase-transfer reactions by giving solid synthetic evidence. Clearly, despite recent spectacular advances in this area, there is still plenty of room for further continuous development in asymmetric phase-transfer catalysis. 

The paramount importance of Michael additions as versatile C-C bond forming transformations was discussed in some detail earlier in this volume. Thus, it is not surprising that, besides the use of chiral PTCs in asymmetric a-alkylation reactions, their use for stereoselective Michael additions is one of the most carefully investigated reactions in asymmetric phase-transfer catalysis (328, 329). Accordingly, the additional use of this methodology in asymmetric total synthesis has been reported on several occasions. 

Considerable efforts made for the synthesis of biologically relevant molecules by means of asymmetric phase-transfer catalysis are summarized in this chapter. Because the phase-transfer reaction is usually insensitive to the contamination of air, moisture, and even acidic or inorganic-salt impurities, and it is set up with simple and user-friendly protocols. It is recognized as one of the easiest methods for large-scale, stereoselective production of functional molecules as exemplified by the studies reported from pharmaceutical companies. In addition, ready accessibility of chiral onium salts as a catalyst facilitates an initial trial in... 

In a similar way, asymmetric phase-transfer catalysis led to products of 1,2-addition of PhS02CHF2 to aromatic aldehydes with enantioselectivities as high as 64% ee. ... 

The introduction of a new catalyst system by Maruoka and coworkers using C2-symmetric binaphthyl-based chiral spiro ammonium salts 6 in 1999, paved the way for a new era in asymmetric phase-transfer catalysis. This PTC system was found to be highly effective for a variety of asymmetric transformations (e.g., Michael additions, a-amino acid syntheses, epoxidations. 

Enantioselective Michael addition of glycine derivatives by means of chiral phase-transfer catalysis has been developed to synthesize various functionalized a-alkyl-a-amino acids. Corey utilized 4d as catalyst for asymmetric Michael addition of glycinate Schiff base 1 to a,(3-unsaturated carbonyl substrates with high enantioselectivity (Scheme 2.15) [35,36]. With methyl acrylate as an acceptor, the a-tert-butyl-y-methyl ester of (S)-glutamic acid can be produced, a functionalized glutamic acid... 

Whilst simple alkylations of enolates and Michael additions have been successfully catalyzed by phase-transfer catalysts, aldol-type processes have proved more problematic. This difficulty is due largely o the reversible nature of the aldol reaction, resulting in the formation of a thermodynamically more stable aldol product rather than the kinetically favored product. However, by trapping the initial aldol product as soon as it is formed, asymmetric aldol-type reactions can be carried out under phase-transfer catalysis. This is the basis of the Darzens condensation (Scheme 8.2), in which the phase-transfer catalyst first induces the deprotonation of an a-halo... 

In the Michael-addition, a nucleophile Nu is added to the / -position of an a,fi-unsaturated acceptor A (Scheme 4.1) [1], The active nucleophile Nu is usually generated by deprotonation of the precursor NuH. Addition of Nu to a prochiral acceptor A generates a center of chirality at the / -carbon atom of the acceptor A. Furthermore, the reaction of the intermediate enolate anion with the electrophile E+ may generate a second center of chirality at the a-carbon atom of the acceptor. This mechanistic scheme implies that enantioface-differentiation in the addition to the yfi-carbon atom of the acceptor can be achieved in two ways (i) deprotonation of NuH with a chiral base results in the chiral ion pair I which can be expected to add to the acceptor asymmetrically and (ii) phase-transfer catalysis (PTC) in which deprotonation of NuH is achieved in one phase with an achiral base and the anion... 

Michael-aldol reaction as an alternative to the Morita-Baylis-Hillman reaction 14 recent results in conjugate addition of nitroalkanes to electron-poor alkenes 15 asymmetric cyclopropanation of chiral (l-phosphoryl)vinyl sulfoxides 16 synthetic methodology using tertiary phosphines as nucleophilic catalysts in combination with allenoates or 2-alkynoates 17 recent advances in the transition metal-catalysed asymmetric hydrosilylation of ketones, imines, and electrophilic C=C bonds 18 Michael additions catalysed by transition metals and lanthanide species 19 recent progress in asymmetric organocatalysis, including the aldol reaction, Mannich reaction, Michael addition, cycloadditions, allylation, epoxidation, and phase-transfer catalysis 20 and nucleophilic phosphine organocatalysis.21... 

Enantioselective Michael addition of glycine derivatives by means of chiral phase-transfer catalysis has been developed to synthesize various functionalized a-alkyl-amino acids. Corey and colleagues utilized 30d as a catalyst for the asymmetric... 

Catalytic Michael additions of a-nitroesters 38 catalyzed by a BINOL (2,2 -dihydroxy-l,r-bi-naphthyl) complex were found to yield the addition products 39 as precursors for a-alkylated amino acids in good yields and with respectable enantioselectivities (8-80%) as shown in Scheme 9 [45]. Asymmetric PTC (phase transfer catalysis) mediated by TADDOL (40) as a chiral catalyst has been used to synthesize enantiomeri-cally enriched a-alkylated amino acids 41 (up to 82 % ee) [46], A similar strategy has been used to access a-amino acids in a stereoselective fashion [47], Using azlactones 42 as nucleophiles in the palladium catalyzed stereoselective allyla-tion addition, compounds 43 were obtained in high yields and almost enantiomerically pure (Scheme 9) [48]. The azlactones 43 can then be converted into the a-alkylated amino acids as shown in Scheme 4. 

Plaquevent and coworkers synthesized methyl dihydrojasmonate 28 using this methodology by performing the asymmetric Michael addition of dimethyl malonate 29 on 2-pentyl-2-cydopentenone 30 [18]. The mechanism involved the tandem deprotonation of the malonate 29 using solid-liquid phase-transfer catalysis... 

The Plaquevent group achieved a new and efficient method for the approach to both enantiomers of methyl dihydrojasmonate 47 by asymmetric Michael addition under solid-liquid phase-transfer catalysis. The main advantages of their procedure are the solvent-free system and the creation of two contiguous stereogenic centres in one step. The authors proposed a plausible mechanism with a transition state composed of substrate 45 and catalyst, quinine-, or quinidine-derived PTC catalyst (48a, 49a), in which hydrogen bonding ensures the proximity of the reactive centres and significantly stabilises the transition state (Scheme 16.14). ... 

Many studies of asymmetric chemical conversions through the catalysis of Cinchona-derived PTC catalysts have been performed to expand the application of phase-transfer catalysis to various organic reactions. In addition to the reactions classified above, some selected examples of asymmetric phase-transfer reactions are shown below. 

I.3.I. Chiral Phase-Transfer Catalysis The exploration of modified cinchona alkaloid organocatalysts for asymmetric synthesis indicates that the quaternary ammonium salt derived from cinchona alkaloids is one of the best catalysts in the asymmetric Michael reaction. In 2000, Perrard and co-workers used A/-meth-ylanthracenylquininium (or quinidinium) chloride salt (Q-a or QD-a) for catalyzing the asymmetric Michael addition of dimethyl malonate to 2-pentyl-2-cyclo-penten-l-one (Scheme 9.6). ... 

This compilation embraces a wide variety of subjects, such as solid-phase and microwave stereoselective synthesis asymmetric phase-transfer asymmetric catalysis and application of chiral auxiliaries and microreactor technology stereoselective reduction and oxidation methods stereoselective additions cyclizations metatheses and different types of rearrangements asymmetric transition-metal-catalyzed, organocatalyzed, and biocatalytic reactions methods for the formation of carbon-heteroatom and heteroatom-heteroatom bonds like asymmetric hydroamina-tion and reductive amination, carboamination and alkylative cyclization, cycloadditions with carbon-heteroatom bond formation, and stereoselective halogenations and methods for the formation of carbon-sulfur and carbon-phosphorus bonds, asymmetric sulfoxidation, and so on. 

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