Carboxylic esters prochiral

These results, obtained with chiral substrates, agree with the general sense of enantioselective hydrogenation of prochiral 3-oxo carboxylic esters. Obviously, the chirality of the BINAP ligand controls the facial selectivity at the carbonyl function, whereas cyclic constraints determine the relative reactivities of the enantiomeric substrates. Sterically restricted transition states that lead to the major stereoisomers are shown in Scheme 66. Overall, one of four possible diastereomeric transition states is selected to afford high stereoselectivity by dynamic kinetic resolution that involves in situ racemization of the substrates. 

A crude mixture of enzymes isolated from Rhodococcus sp. is used for selective hydrolysis of aromatic and aliphatic nitriles and dinitriles (117). Nitrilase accepts a wide range of substrates (Table 8). Even though many of them have low solubility in water, such as (88), the yields are in the range of 90%. Carboxylic esters are not susceptible to the hydrolysis by the enzyme so that only the cyano group of (89) is hydrolyzed. This mode of selectivity is opposite to that observed upon the chemical hydrolysis at alkaline pH, esters are more labile than nitriles. Dinitriles (90,91) can be hydrolyzed regioselectively resulting in cyanoacids in 71—91% yield. Hydrolysis of (92) proceeds via the formation of racemic amide which is then hydrolyzed to the acid in 95% ee (118). Prochiral 3-substituted glutaronitriles (93) are hydrolyzed by Phodococcus butanica in up to 71% yield with excellent selectivity (119). 

Pig Liver Esterase (PLE). This is the more used car-boxylesterase (carboxylic-ester hydrolase, EC 3.1.1.1, CAS 9016-18-6) which physiologically catalyzes the hydrolysis of carboxylic acid esters to the free acid anion and alcohol. PLE is a serine hydrolase which has been widely used for the preparation of chiral synthons and these applications have been fully reviewed. An active-site model for interpreting and predicting the specificity of the enzyme has been published. In the pioneering studies of the enzyme applications field, PLE was used for the chiral synthesis of mevalonolactone. Prochiral 3-substituted glutaric acid diesters... 

BINAP was first introduced by Noyori [80]. It has been particularly explored for reduction with ruthenium catalysts. BINAP is an atropisomeric ligand because rotation aroimd the central C-C bond is blocked. Accordingly BINAP exists in two enantiomers. Complexes of Ru(II) with BINAP are extremely powerful catalysts for enantioselective hydrogenations of prochiral a,p- and P,Y-unsaturated carboxylic acids, enamides, allylic and homoallylic alcohols, imines etc. [83]. In many cases, the hydrogenation is quantitative with enantiomeric excesses of over 95%. A wide variety of vitamins, terpenes, P-lactam antibiotics, etc. are accessible by the use of catalysts containing the BINAP stereogenic element. An example for 3-oxo carboxylic esters is shown in reaction (1) of Fig. 6.32. 

In contrast to the hydrolysis of prochiral esters performed in aqueous solutions, the enzymatic acylation of prochiral diols is usually carried out in an inert organic solvent such as hexane, ether, toluene, or ethyl acetate. In order to increase the reaction rate and the degree of conversion, activated esters such as vinyl carboxylates are often used as acylating agents. The vinyl alcohol formed as a result of transesterification tautomerizes to acetaldehyde, making the reaction practically irreversible. The presence of a bulky substituent in the 2-position helps the enzyme to discriminate between enantiotopic faces as a result the enzymatic acylation of prochiral 2-benzoxy-l,3-propanediol (34) proceeds with excellent selectivity (ee > 96%) (49). In the case of the 2-methyl substituted diol (33) the selectivity is only moderate (50). 

Prochiral organic acids were hydrogenated on clay-supported Rh-chiral phosphine complexes.205,206 Hectorite-supported chiral Rh(I)-phosphine complexes were used for the asymmetric hydrogenation of a,P-unsaturated carboxylic acids.207 It was found that the interaction between the a-ester group of itaconates and phenyl groups of phosphine can play an important role in the determination of the configuration of products. 

PLE) transforms the meso substrate into chiral compound 5 with >98% te. This en/yme is capable of differendating between the two enantiotopic ester groups on the prochiral carbon atom and hydrolyzing only one of them to a carboxylic acid. Maximum enan-tioselectivity is achieved by carrying out the reaction in 25% aqueous DMSO solution at 35 C. 

Figure 12 The most stable structure computed (RB3LYP/6-31G(d)) for the Li+ complex with menthyl ester of 2-benzoyladamantane-2-carboxylic acid. In the two structures the sites of interaction of Li+ are different. The carbonyl is tilted toward different prochiral hydrogens in the two structures. Note that the interaction energies are considerably different for the two structures. The interaction energies computed at the RHF/3-21G level are given in parentheses.

The preparation of protected (/ )-2-methyl-cysteine by Fukuyama starts with the enantio-selective discrimination of the prochiral ester groups in 6 with pig liver esterase (Scheme 3) [5]. The ester function of the resulting product 7 is selectively reduced (7 16). Cyclization to the )9-lactone gives compound 17. Attack of the thioacetate at the )9-lactone methylene carbon atom provides the (/f)-compound 18. Selective reduction of the carboxylic acid function in 7 gives the (S)-compound 19 in an analogous fashion. 

Among the carbon electrophiles, carbonyl compounds [113,114] were first applied in the reaction with lithiated ferrocenylalkyl amines (Sect. 4.S.3.3 and Fig. 4-18). Analogously, carboxylic acids are obtained from CO2 [153]. The reactivity pattern of palladated ferrocenylalkyl amines with carbon electrophiles is somewhat different. Carbon monoxide in alcohols leads to the formation of esters of substituted ferrocenecarboxylic acids [124]. With prochiral alcohols, a moderate asymmetric induction is observed [154]. a, -Unsaturated ketones react with palladated ferrocenylalkyl amines not with addition to the carbonyl group, but with substitution of a hydrogen at the carbon—carbon double bond, allowing the introduction of longer side chains at the ferrocene ring (Fig. 4-27c) [124, 152]. 

Pig liver esterase (PLE) has found extensive use for the hydrolytic cleavage of methyl or ethyl esters of prochiral carboxylic acids. 

The research group of Muzart and Henin studied extensively the palladium-catalyzed EDP of allyl- or benzyl-carboxylated compounds. Mainly two types of substrates, prochiral enol carbonates A and racemic (3-keto esters B, were used to afford enols C as transient species [25]. In the presence of a chiral proton source, asymmetric protonation/tautomerization of enols led to enantioenriched ketones D... 

Although prochiral or chiral alcohols and carboxylic acid esters initially served as the primary classes of substrates, compounds susceptible to processing via these two routes now encompass diols, a- and 3-hydroxy acids, cyanohydrins, chlorohydrins, diesters, lactones, amines, diamines, amino alcohols, and a-and 3-amino acid derivatives. Gotor and Arroyo have reviewed the use of biocatalysts for the preparation of pharma-eeutical intermediates and fine ehemieals. Some specific examples are indieated below. 

Table 11.1-7. a-Chymostrypsin-catalyzed enantiotopos-differentiating hydrolysis of prochiral cyclic dicarboxylic acid esters, acyclic dicarboxylic acid esters and cyclic diol diacetates and enantiomer-differentiating hydrolysis of racemic carboxylic acid esters in aqueous solution. 

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