Brpnsted base catalysis

Some of the most important evidence for the two-step mechanism comes from studies of base catalysis, in this regard, reactions involving primary and secondary amines have played a central role1-5. The initially formed cx-adduct, 1, is zwitterionic and contains an acidic proton, which can be removed by a base which may be the nucleophile itself. Conversion of 1 to products can then occur via the uncatalysed k2 pathway or via the base-catalysed hl pathway. The influence of Brpnsted base catalysis, the experimental observation of 1,1- and 1,3-cr-adducts, the sensitivity of the system to medium effects, are some experimental evidence of the mechanism depicted in equation 1. 

This reaction encompasses a number of interesting features (general Brpnsted acid/ Brpnsted base catalysis, bifunctional catalysis, enantioselective organocatalysis, very short hydrogen bonds, similarity to serine protease mechanism, oxyanion hole), and we were able to obtain a complete set of DFT based data for the entire reaction path, from the starting catalyst-substrate complex to the product complex. 

The advent of chiral Brpnsted base catalysis began with the recognition that the Cinchona alkaloids serve as excellent catalysts [7-12] and privileged structures... 

The authors reported the first chiral guanidine catalyzed addition of nitro-olefms to aldehydes (Scheme 62, Table 3). While reactivity and selectivity were not optimal, the discovery led to great developments in the field of asymmetric Brpnsted base catalysis. 

In many examples of Brpnsted base catalysis, the combination of a chiral tertiary amine and a hydrogen-bonding donor, such as a urea or thiourea moiety, significantly enhances the selectivity of the formation of carbon-carbon bonds. Catalysts possessing this combination of functional groups have proven useful due to their ability to simultaneously stabilize and activate both electrophilic and nucleophilic components. 

For a general review on Brpnsted base catalysis, see Palomo C, Oiarbide M, Lopez R (2009) Chem Soc Rev 38 632... 

A Lewis base-assisted Brpnsted base catalysis strategy has been used for direct asymmetric vinylogous alkylation of allylic sulfones with Morita-Baylis-Hillman (MBH) carbonates, in which a strong Brpnsted base, f-butoxy anion, generated in situ from a tertiary amine catalyst and MBH carbonate, is crucial in activating unstabilized nucleophiles. The y-regio-selective alkylation products were obtained with good to excellent enantiomeric excess (up to 98% ee) values when catalysed by a modified cinchona alkaloid. 

Building upon these concepts, this chapter firstly gives an insight into the modes of action of a selection of non-covalent chiral organocatalysts, employing chiral Brpnsted acid catalysis, chiral Brpnsted base catalysis, and chiral phase-transfer catalysis (PTC). Further sections of this chapter describe two separate case studies that aim to compare and contrast selected covalent and non-covalent strategies for achieving two distinct processes, acyl transfer reactions and asymmetric pericyclic processes. 

Typical other trademark applications of asymmetric Brpnsted base catalysis include hydrocyanation reactions, Strecker reactions, or also desymmetrizing esterifications, to mention a few examples only (see Scheme 6.31 for selected seminal reports and Brpnsted base catalysts used therein) [89-91]. 

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