Asymmetric reactions aziridinations

Probably the most widely applicable asymmetric imine aziridination reaction reported to date is that of Wulff et al. These workers approached the reaction from a different perspective, utilizing the so-called vaulted , axially chiral boron Lewis acids VANOL and VAPOL [35] to mediate reactions between ethyl diazoacetate and N-benzhydrylimines (Scheme 4.29) [36]. The reactions proceed with impressive enantiocontrol, but there is a requirement that the benzhydryl substituent be present since this group is not an aziridine activator there is, therefore, a need for deprotection and attachment of a suitable activating group. Nonetheless, this method is a powerful one, with great potential for synthesis, as shown by the rapid synthesis of chloroamphenicol by the methodology [37]. 

The asymmetric oxidation of organic compounds, especially the epoxidation, dihydroxylation, aminohydroxylation, aziridination, and related reactions have been extensively studied and found widespread applications in the asymmetric synthesis of many important compounds. Like many other asymmetric reactions discussed in other chapters of this book, oxidation systems have been developed and extended steadily over the years in order to attain high stereoselectivity. This chapter on oxidation is organized into several key topics. The first section covers the formation of epoxides from allylic alcohols or their derivatives and the corresponding ring-opening reactions of the thus formed 2,3-epoxy alcohols. The second part deals with dihydroxylation reactions, which can provide diols from olefins. The third section delineates the recently discovered aminohydroxylation of olefins. The fourth topic involves the oxidation of unfunc-tionalized olefins. The chapter ends with a discussion of the oxidation of eno-lates and asymmetric aziridination reactions. 

The required chiral sulfur ylide of type 59 is formed in a reaction with a diazo compound in the presence of an achiral metal catalyst. Subsequently, asymmetric reaction of the chiral ylide 59 with the C=N double bond of the imine proceeds diastereoselectively and enantioselectively, giving the optically active aziridine 57. The chiral sulfide catalyst released is then used for the next catalytic cycle. The cat-alytically active species in the asymmetric process is the sulfide, so this concept can also be regarded as an organocatalytic reaction. 

In this chapter, we will review the use of ylides as enantioselective organocata-lysts. Three main types of asymmetric reaction have been achieved using ylides as catalysts, namely epoxidation, aziridination, and cyclopropanation. Each of these will be dealt with in turn. The use of an ylide to achieve these transformations involves the construction of a C-C bond, a three-membered ring, and two new adjacent stereocenters with control of absolute and relative stereochemistry in one step. These are potentially very efficient transformations in the synthetic chemist s arsenal, but they are also challenging ones to control, as we shall see. Sulfur ylides dominate in these types of transformations because they show the best combination of ylide stability [1] with leaving group ability [2] of the onium ion in the intermediate betaine. In addition, the use of nitrogen, selenium and tellurium ylides as catalysts will also be described. 

Aggarwal and Vasse have applied asymmetric ylide aziridination to the synthesis of the taxol side chain 26 [75]. By using stoichiometric quantities of chiral sulfide, 26 was obtained in six steps and 16% overall yield (see Scheme 10.19, route A), while the catalytic variant allowed access to 26 in seven steps and 20% overall yield (see Scheme 10.19, route B). Both methods gave the key aziridine intermediates in excellent enantiomeric purity. Unfortunately, the benzoyl imine 25 did not work well in the catalytic reaction, and so a slightly longer synthetic route... 

Miscellaneous. There are several other reports on the application of this ligand to catalytic asymmetric reactions, although enantioselectivities are modest. Those reports include the Mukaiyama-Michael reaction, allylation of aldehydes, asymmetric Diels-Alder reaction, Mukaiyama-Aldol reaction of ketomalonate, aziridination reaction of a-imino esters, and asymmetric hetero-Diels-Alder reaction. ... 

Copper complexes derived from bis(-2,6-dichlorophenyle-dene)-( 15,25)-1,2-diaminocyclohexane (11) catalyze various reactions such as Diels-Alder reaction, aziridination (eq 20), cyclopropanation, and silyl enol ether addition to pyruvate esters. Although the scope of these reactions may be sometimes limited, enantioselectivities are generally high. The same complex (with copper(I) salts) catalyzes the asymmetric insertion of silicon- hydrogen bond into carbenoids. ... 

Enantioselective vanadium and niobium catalysts provide chemists with new and powerful tools for the efficient preparation of optically active molecules. Over the past few decades, the use of vanadium and niobium catalysts has been extended to a variety of different and complementaiy asymmetric reactions. These reactions include cyanide additions, oxidative coupling of 2-naphthols, Friedel-Crafts-type reactions, pinacol couplings, Diels-Alder reactions, Mannich-type reactions, desymmetrisation of epoxides and aziridines, hydroaminations, hydroaminoalkylations, sulfoxida-tions, epoxidations, and oxidation of a-hydroxy carbo) lates Thus, their major applications are in Lewis acid-based chemistiy and redox chemistry. In particular, vanadium is attractive as a metal catalyst in organic synthesis because of its natural abundance as well as its relatively low toxicity and moisture sensitivity compared with other metals. The fact that vanadium is present in nature in equal abundance to zinc (albeit in a more widely distributed form and more difficult to access) is not widely appreciated. Inspired by the activation of substrates in nature [e.g. bromoperoxidase. 

Asymmetric reactions that can exhibit this type of behavior include atom and group transfer reactions, such as the asymmetric oxidation of sulfides, some asymmetric epoxidations of olefins, " asymmetric aziridination of olefins, - and as)rmmetric cyclo-propanation of olefins. In the asymmetric oxidation of sulfides, a non-racemic, cliiral, low-valent metal complex is oxidized, in this case by iodosobenzene, to generate a highly reactive 0x0 intermediate. The 0x0 is then transferred directly to the sulfur to form the sulfoxide in the enantioselectivity-determining step. A representative example is illustrated in Equation 14.12 that involves a chiral salen-based catalyst. ... 

Seki et al. also used zirconium and hafnium terf-butoxide-BINOL, 108-109, for the asymmetric meso-aziridine, 110, ring-opening reactions (reaction 7.22) with aniline derivatives. 111 [72]. Ihey reported high yield and acceptable enantioselectivity for these reactions with this catalytic system. 

Related reactions of vinylaziridines [79] or activated vinylcyclopropanes [80] with isocyanates and other heterocumulenes have been developed for the construction of cyclic ureas and similar heterocydes. For example, Trost has recently described a dynamic kinetic asymmetric reaction of aziridine 105 with phenylisocyanate that... 

The diphenylphosphoryl azide (DPPA) (38) has been employed as a nitrene source in the presence of a cobalt(II) porphyrin [Co(Por)] system, catalyzing asymmetric olefin aziridination reactions (Scheme 11). iV-phosphorus-substituted aziridines (39) have been formed in these reactions in moderate to high yields and good enantioselectivities. 

Since the work of Cenini and coworkers the aziridination reaction of alkenes with azide using various types of metal-loporphyrin-based catalyst has been broadly studied. Zhang and coworkers developed the Co(TPP)-catalyzed aziridination of styrenes with diphenylphosphoryl azide (DPPA) (Scheme 2.9) [14a]. In continuing their work on the cobalt-porphyrin catalyst, the asymmetric alkene aziridinations with DPPA catalyzed by the cobalt(ll) complexes with D2-sym-metric chiral porphyrin ligands were also reported [14b]. 

The Darzens condensation reaction has been used with a wide variety of enolate equivalents that have been covered elsewhere. A recent application of this important reaction was appljed toward the asymmetric synthesis of aziridine phosphonates by Davis and coworkers.In this application, a THF solution of sulfinimine 34 (0.37 mmol, >98% ee) and iodophosphonate 35 (0.74 mmol) was treated with LiHMDS (0.74 mmol) at -78 °C to give aziridine 36 in 75% yield. Treatment of 36 with MeMgBr removed the sulfinyl group to provide aziridine 37 in 72% yield. 

Aziridination remains less well developed than epoxidation. Nevertheless, high selectivity in inline aziridination has been achieved through the use of chiral sulfi-nimines as auxiliaries. Highly successful catalytic asymmetric aziridination reactions employing either sulfur ylides or diazo esters and chiral Lewis acids have been developed, although their scope and potential applications in synthesis have yet to be established. 

Scheme 2.5) was recently reported by Komatsu, Minakata, and coworkers [12]. The reaction with the (i ,i )-complex 12 provided the first reagent-controlled asymmetric aziridination of conjugated dienes, although enantioselectivities were only low to moderate (20-40% ee). 

Reactions between imines and a-diazo carboxylates afford aziridine-2-carboxylates [55]. An asymmetric version of this reaction using chiral nonracemic catalysts has been described [53, 56-58]. As an example, catalytic aziridination of inline 44 (Scheme 3.14) with ethyl diazoacetate in the presence of 10% catalyst generated... 

More recently, Davis and co-workers developed a new method for the asymmetric syntheses of aziridine-2-carboxylates through the use of an aza-Darzens-type reaction between sulfinimines (N-sulfinyl imines) and a-haloenolates [62-66]. The reaction is highly efficient, affording cis- N-sulfmylaziridine-2-carboxylic esters in high yield and diastereoselectivity. This method has been used to prepare a variety of aziridines with diverse ring and nitrogen substituents. As an example, treatment of sulfinimine (Ss)-55 (Scheme 3.18) with the lithium enolate of tert-butyl bromoacetate gave aziridine 56 in 82% isolated yield [66],... 

Lewis acid-mediated asymmetric Diels-Alder reactions between 2H-azirines 59, bearing chiral auxiliaries, with enophiles such as 60 afforded mixtures of bicyclic aziridine-2-carboxylates 61 (Scheme 3.20) [68]. 8-Phenylmenthol appeared to be the auxiliary of choice in this reaction in terms of yield and diastereoselectivity. 

An aza-Darzens reaction, involving the addition of chloromethylphosphonate anions to enantiopure N-sulfinimines, has also been developed by Davis and others for the asymmetric synthesis of aziridine-2-phosphonates [81-84], As an example, treatment of the lithium anion generated from dimethyl chloromethylphos-phonate (93 Scheme 3.30) with N-sulfmimine (Ss)-92 gave the a-chloro-P-amino phosphonate 94, which could be isolated in 51% yield. Cyclization of 94 with n-BuLi gave cis-N-sulfmylaziridine-2-phosphonate 95 in 82% yield [81],... 

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