Asymmetric synthesis using introduction

To enhance the efficiency of the cyanide addition, these workers subsequently reported a three-component asymmetric synthesis of amino nitriles that avoids the use of the previously mentioned undesirable stannane [74], Thus, as illustrated in Scheme 6.23, treatment of the requisite aniline and aldehyde with HCN (toxic but cheap and suitable for industrial use) at —45°C in the presence of 2.5 mol% 65 leads to the formation of 67 with 86 % ee and in 80 % yield. As was mentioned above in the context of catalytic asymmetric three-component alkylations of imines (see Scheme 6.18), the in situ procedure is particularly useful for the less stable aliphatic substrates (cf. 71—73, Scheme 6.23). The introduction of the o-Me group on the aniline is reported to lead to higher levels of asymmetric induction, perhaps because with the sterically less demanding aliphatic systems, the imine can exist as a mixture of interconverting cis and trans isomers. 

At that time, as now, the enantiomers of many chiral amines were obtained as natural products or by synthesis from naturally occurring amines, a-amino acids and alkaloids, while others were only prepared by introduction of an amino group by appropriate reactions into substances from the chiral pool carbohydrates, hydroxy acids, terpenes and alkaloids. In this connection, a recent review10 outlines the preparation of chiral aziridines from enantiomerically pure starting materials from natural or synthetic sources and the use of these aziridines in stereoselective transformations. Another report11 gives the use of the enantiomers of the a-amino acid esters for the asymmetric synthesis of nitrogen heterocyclic compounds. 

Since the aldimine Schiff base 21 can be readily prepared from glycine, direct stereoselective introduction of two different side chains to 21 by appropriate chiral phase-transfer catalysis would provide an attractive, yet powerful, strategy for the asymmetric synthesis of structurally diverse a,a-dialkyl-a-amino acids. This possibility of a one-pot asymmetric double alkylation has been realized by using N-spiro chiral quaternary ammonium bromide le (Scheme 5.21). 

In Kiyooka s approach to acetate aldols by use of a stoichiometric amount of 3f, the enantiomeric excess obtained in the reaction with silyl ketene acetals derived from a-unsubstituted acetates was much lower (ca 10-20 %) than that obtained in the reaction with l-ethoxy-2-methyl-l-(trimethylsiloxy)-l-propene (> 98 % ee). Introduction of an removable substituent, e.g., a methylthio or bromo substituent, after aldol reaction at the a-position of chiral esters, resolved this problem [43e], Asymmetric synthesis of dithiolane aldols was achieved in good yield by using the silyl ketene acetal derived from l,3-dithiolane-2-carboxylate in the 3f-promoted aldol reaction, and desulfurization of the dithiolane aldols resulted in production of the acetate aldols in high enantiomeric purity (Eq. 56). 

In 2006, two groups independently reported the novel asymmetric synthesis of tamiflu (106). Corey et al. reported a short enantioselective pathway for the synthesis of 106 from 1,3-butadi-ene and acrylic acid shown in O Scheme 22 [ 111 ]. The key steps of the synthesis are (1) Diels-Alder reaction of 1,3-butadiene (146) and trifluoroethyl acrylate (147) in the presence of chiral ligand 148 developed in the laboratory [112], (2) the introduction of two amino groups in tamiflu (106) without using potentially hazardous and explosive azide reagents, and (3) a novel S nBr4 - catalyzed bromoacetamidation. 

Evans synthesis of bryostatin 2 (113) also relied upon asymmetric aldol reactions for the introduction of most of the 11 stereocenters [58], At different points, the synthesis used control from an auxiliary, a chiral Lewis acid, chiral ligands on the enolate metal and substrate control from a chiral aldehyde. Indeed, this represents the current state of the art in the aldol construction of complex polyketide natural products. 

In asymmetric synthesis, the use of enantiomerically pure chiral auxiliaries involves the temporary introduction of a chiral group G onto an achiral substrate R-Y. This modified substrate R-Y-G is subsequently transformed, ideally through a highly diastereoselective process, into a new product R-Z -G. After cleavage of the chiral auxiliary, the final product R-Z, bearing a new stereocenter, is formed. 

Chiral a,P-unsaturated sulfoxides 1.136 (Y = Tol, R = R CH=CH) also have been used in asymmetric synthesis. These compounds are prepared either by treatment of 1.137 with vinylic organometallic reagents, or from saturated precursors by classical chemical transformations [102, 173, 476, 484-487], Michael additions to these electrophiles are interesting only if R = CF3 [161], Organometallic additions or [4+2] cycloadditions require the introduction of a second electron-withdrawing substituent [73, 102], and acyclic 1.138 and cyclic 1.139 gem-di substituted sulfoxides have seen many interesting applications [101, 102,... 

In a preliminary chapter, entitled Introduction, the underlying principles of physical organic chemistry, as applied to stereoselective reactions, are succintly recalled. The three subsequent chapters describe the chiral auxiliaries, reagents, catalysts and ligands that are most commonly used in asymmetric synthesis. The remaining chapters are devoted to the description and delineation of the scope of the main classes of asymmetric organic reactions. These indude protonations and deprotonations alkylations and related reactions additions to C=0, C=N and C=C double bonds cycloadditions rearrangements and transition metal-catalyzed reactions. 

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