Proline catalysts

The problem of competitive reactions can also be overcome by the use of specific catalysts proline and its derivatives proved to be effective and enantiomeric-specific organic catalysts [80-83],... 

Enantioselective catalysis promoted by enantiomerically pure amines (aminocatalysis) is the subject of considerable interest due to the ubiquitous presence and ready availability of these compounds in the chiral pool. In this context amino acids have always played a key role. One of the most successful and versatile chiral organic catalysts, proline, was... 

As an efficient bifunctional catalyst, proline has been used as a Br0nsted acid in combination with a nucleophilic Lewis base catalyst in the asymmetric BH reaction. Miller and co-workers [119] disclosed that in the L-proline-catalyzed BH reaction of MVK and electron-deficient aldehydes the imidazole-tailed peptide 67 was an efficient co-catalyst. A matched/mismatched phenomenon of two chiral catalysts was observed in this reaction. Furthermore, Zhou and co-workers [120] synthesized various chiral amines and screened them as co-catalysts of L-proline in the BH reaction of MVK and aldehydes, revealing that chiral benzodiazepine 68 and aminoalcohol 69 were efficient catalysts. Interestingly, the intramolecular reaction shown in Scheme 9.34 could be directly catalyzed by L-proline in DMF solvent, while the addition of imidazole resulted in enhancement of the enantioselectivity with opposite configurational product [121]. A similar process was realized in the intramolecular reaction shown in Scheme 9.35 with 70 as co-catalyst of iV-methylimidazole. Moreover, Cordova and co-workers [122] reported in 2007 the first example of asymmetric aza-BH reaction between (3-mono- or disubstituted acroleins and aldimines. By utilizing L-proline as catalyst in combination with... 

Under solvent-free conditions in a ball mill a significant nonlinear relationship between the enantiomeric excess of the catalyst (proline) and that of the product was observed, when solely solid substrates were used (09CEC404). 

Prepared by heating ammonium mucate, or from butyne-l,4-diol and ammonia in the presence of an alumina catalyst. The pyrrole molecule is aromatic in character. It is not basic and the imino-hydrogen atom can be replaced by potassium. Many pyrrole derivatives occur naturally, e.g. proline, indican, haem and chlorophyll. 

The most successful of the Lewis acid catalysts are oxazaborolidines prepared from chiral amino alcohols and boranes. These compounds lead to enantioselective reduction of acetophenone by an external reductant, usually diborane. The chiral environment established in the complex leads to facial selectivity. The most widely known example of these reagents is derived from the amino acid proline. Several other examples of this type of reagent have been developed, and these will be discussed more completely in Section 5.2 of part B. 

Benzyloxycarbonyl-L-proline tert-butyl ester (205 g) is dissolved in absolute ethanol (1.2 ) and hydrogenated at normal pressure with 10% Pd on carbon (10 g) until only a trace of carbon dioxide is observed in the hydrogen exit gas (24 hours). The catalyst is filtered off and the filtrate is concentrated in vacuo at 30 mm Hg. The residue is distilled in vacuo, to obtain L-proline tert-butyl ester, BPimm... 

As an alternative, tin enolates are very useful in these additions. Usually they are prepared in situ from the amide using tin(II) trifluoromethanesulfonate and a base. They are subsequently reacted with an enone, catalyzed by a Lewis acid47-48 (see Table 3). With triinethylsilyl trifluoromethanesulfonate as a catalyst, in the presence of proline derived diamines anti-adducts are formed exclusively49 (see Section 1.5.2.4.3.1.). 

An interesting case in the perspective of artificial enzymes for enantioselective synthesis is the recently described peptide dendrimer aldolases [36]. These dendrimers utilize the enamine type I aldolase mechanism, which is found in natural aldolases [37] and antibodies [21].These aldolase dendrimers, for example, L2Dl,have multiple N-terminal proline residues as found in catalytic aldolase peptides [38], and display catalytic activity in aqueous medium under conditions where the small molecule catalysts are inactive (Figure 3.8). As most enzyme models, these dendrimers remain very far from natural enzymes in terms ofboth activity and selectivity, and at present should only be considered in the perspective of fundamental studies. 

These ligands can readily be obtained by a Grignard reaction of aziridine esters, followed by an acidic detritylation (see Scheme 40) [19,55]. These aziridine carbinol-derived catalysts are equally efficient as the Corey ligand 55 derived from proline carbinols (Fig. 4) [55,56]. 

Kragl and Dreisbach (1996) have carried out the enantioselective addition of diethyl zinc to benzaldehyde in a continuous asymmetric membrane reactor using a homogeneous soluble catalyst, described in their paper. Here a,a-diphenyl-L-proline was used as a chiral ligand, coupled to a copolymer made from 2-hydroxy ethyl methacrylate and octadecyl methacrylate, which had a sufficiently high molecular weight to allow separation by ultra-filtration (U/F). The solvent-stable polyaramide U/F Hoechst Nadir UF PA20 retained more than 99.8% of the catalyst. The ee was 80 %, compared to 98 % for a noncoupled catalyst. 

Reaction progress kinetic analysis offers a reliable alternative method to assess the stability of the active catalyst concentration, again based on our concept of excess [e]. In contrast to our different excess experiments described above, now we carry out a set of experiments at the same value of excess [ej. We consider again the proline-mediated aldol reaction shown in Scheme 50.1. Under reaction conditions, the proline catalyst can undergo side reactions with aldehydes to form inactive cyclic species called oxazolidinones, effectively decreasing the active catalyst concentration. It has recently been shown that addition of small amounts of water to the reaction mixture can eliminate this catalyst deactivation. Reaction progress kinetic analysis of experiments carried out at the same excess [e] can be used to confirm the deactivation of proline in the absence of added water as well to demonstrate that the proline concentration remains constant when water is present. 

A different type of catalysis is observed using proline as a catalyst.166 Proline promotes addition of acetone to aromatic aldehydes with 65-77% enantioselectivity. It has been suggested that the carboxylic acid functions as an intramolecular proton donor and promotes reaction through an enamine intermediate. 

The detailed mechanism of this enantioselective transformation remains under investigation.178 It is known that the acidic carboxylic group is crucial, and the cyclization is believed to occur via the enamine derived from the catalyst and the exocyclic ketone. A computational study suggested that the proton transfer occurs through a TS very similar to that described for the proline-catalyzed aldol reaction (see page 132).179... 

As already discussed for aldol and Robinson annulation reactions, proline is also a catalyst for enantioselective Mannich reactions. Proline effectively catalyzes the reactions of aldehydes such as 3-methylbutanal and hexanal with /V-arylimines of ethyl glyoxalate.196 These reactions show 2,3-syn selectivity, although the products with small alkyl groups tend to isomerize to the anti isomer. 

Enantioselectivity has been observed for acyclic ketones, using proline as a catalyst. Under optimum conditions, ds > 80% and e.e. > 70% were observed.324 These... 

Catalytic Enantioselective Reduction of Ketones. An even more efficient approach to enantioselective reduction is to use a chiral catalyst. One of the most developed is the oxazaborolidine 18, which is derived from the amino acid proline.148 The enantiomer is also available. These catalysts are called the CBS-oxazaborolidines. 

The oxazaborolidines B and C derived from proline are also effective catalysts. The protonated forms of these catalysts, generated using triflic acid or triflimide, are very active catalysts,95 and the triflimide version is more stable above 0° C. Another protonated catalyst D is derived from 2-cyclopentenylacetic acid. 

Mono-, di-, and trisubstituted olefins undergo osmium-catalyzed enantioselective dihydroxylation in the presence of the (R)-proline-substituted hydroquinidine 3.9 to give diols in 67-95% yields and in 78-99% ee.75 Using potassium osmate(VI) as the catalyst and potassium carbonate as the base in a tm-butanol/water mixture as the solvent, olefins are dihydroxylated stereo- and enantioselectively in the presence of 3.9 and potassium ferricyanide with sodium chlorite as the stoichiometric oxidant the yields and enantiomeric excesses of the... 

Lewis-Acid Catalyzed. Recently, various Lewis acids have been examined as catalyst for the aldol reaction. In the presence of complexes of zinc with aminoesters or aminoalcohols, the dehydration can be avoided and the aldol addition becomes essentially quantitative (Eq. 8.97).245 A microporous coordination polymer obtained by treating anthracene- is (resorcinol) with La(0/Pr)3 possesses catalytic activity for ketone enolization and aldol reactions in pure water at neutral pH.246 The La network is stable against hydrolysis and maintains microporosity and reversible substrate binding that mimicked an enzyme. Zn complexes of proline, lysine, and arginine were found to be efficient catalysts for the aldol addition of p-nitrobenzaldehyde and acetone in an aqueous medium to give quantitative yields and the enantiomeric excesses were up to 56% with 5 mol% of the catalysts at room temperature.247... 

Organic-Base Catalyzed. Asymmetric direct aldol reactions have received considerable attention recently (Eq. 8.98).251 Direct asymmetric catalytic aldol reactions have been successfully performed using aldehydes and unmodified ketones together with chiral cyclic secondary amines as catalysts.252 L-proline and 5,5-dimethylthiazolidinium-4-carboxylate (DMTC) were found to be the most powerful amino acid catalysts for the reaction of both acyclic and cyclic ketones as aldol donors with aromatic and aliphatic aldehydes to afford the corresponding... 

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