Bifunctional ketene enolates

Further applications of chiral ketene enolates to formal [4 + 2] type cyclization using the above-mentioned bifunctional catalyst systems have recently been discovered independently by the Lectka [48] and Nelson groups [49]. This highly interesting topic is discussed in Chapter 9 in detail. 

Scheme 10.5 Bifunctional [4 + 2] cycloaddition of o-benzoquinone diimides and ketene enolates.

Later, Lectka et al. reported a detailed synthetic and mechanistic study of unusual [4 + 2] cycloaddition of ketene enolates and o-quinones by the bifunctional catalysis of cinchona alkaloids BQD la (or BQN lb) and Lewis adds. The undertaken investigations based on the integration of experimental and calculated data itself demonstrated a surprising cooperative LA/LB interaction on a ketene enolate. It showed that the reaction of o-quinone undergoes a mechanistic switch in which the mode of activation changes from Lewis acid (LA) complexation of the quinone to metal complexation of the chiral ketene enolate. 

Abraham CJ, Pauli DH, Scerba MT, Giebinsk JW, Lectka T (2006) Catalytic, enandoselective bifunctional inverse electron demand hetero-EHels-Alder reactions of ketene enolates and o-benzoquinone diimides. J Am Chem Soc 128(41) 13370-13371. doi 10.1021/ja065754d... 

An interesting bifunctional system with a combination of In(OTf)3 and benzoyl-quinine 65 was developed in p-lactam formation reaction from ketenes and an imino ester by Lectka [Eq. (13.40)]. High diastrereo- and enantioselectivity as well as high chemical yield were produced with the bifunctional catalysis. In the absence of the Lewis acid, polymerization of the acid chloride and imino ester occurred, and product yield was moderate. It was proposed that quinine activates ketenes (generated from acyl chloride in the presence of proton sponge) as a nucleophile to generate an enolate, while indium activates the imino ester, which favors the desired addition reaction (66) ... 

Bis(pentafluorophenyl) tin dibromide effects the Mukaiyama aldol reaction of ketene silyl acetal with ketones, but promotes no reaction with acetals under the same conditions. On the other hand, reaction of silyl enol ether derived from acetophenone leads to the opposite outcome, giving acetal aldolate exclusively. This protocol can be applied to a bifunctional substrate (Equation (105)). Keto acetal is exposed to a mixture of different types of enol silyl ethers, in which each nucleophile reacts chemoselectively to give a sole product.271... 

Despite the obvious potential of cinchona alkaloids as bifunctional chiral catalysts of the nucleophilic addition/enantioselective protonation on prochiral ketenes, no further contribution has appeared to date and only a few papers described this asymmetric reaction with other catalysts [13], When the reaction is carried out with soft nucleophiles, the catalyst, often a chiral tertiary amine, adding first on ketene, is covalently linked to the enolate during the protonation. Thus, we can expect an optimal control of the stereochemical outcome of the protonation. This seems perfectly well suited for cinchona analogues and we can therefore anticipate successful applications of these compounds for this reaction in the near future. 

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