Catalytic enantioselective cyanosilylation

Corey reported a catalytic enantioselective cyanosilylation of methyl ketones using combination of a chiral oxazaborolidinium and an achiral phosphine oxide, [Eq. (13.23)]. An intermolecular dual activation of a substrate by boron and TMSCN by the achiral phosphine oxide (MePh2PO) is proposed as a transition-state model (54). The same catalyst was also used for cyanosilylation of aldehydes ... 

Our proposed transition state model for this catalytic enantioselective cyanosilylation of ketone is shown as 35.30a The titanium acts as a Lewis acid to activate the substrate ketone, while the phosphine oxide acts as a Lewis base to activate TMSCN. The intramolecular transfer of the activated cyanide to the activated ketone should give the ( )-cyanohydrin in high selectivity. The successful results described above clearly demonstrate the practicality of our asymmetric catalyst for cyanosilylation of ketones. 

Based on acid-base combination chemistry, Ishihara developed a catalytic enantioselective cyanosilylation of ketones by using chiral (J )-Ph2-BINOL-derived lithium phosphate, which was prepared in situ from phosphoric acid... 

Table 13.24 Catalytic Enantioselective Cyanosilylation of Ketones Using Gd/Ligand 7a Complex...

Table 13.25 Catalytic Enantioselective Cyanosilylation of Ketones for the Synthesis of Triazole Antifungals...

For other catalytic asymmetric cyanosilylation of aldehydes, see C.-D. Hwang, D.-R, Hwang, B.-J. Uang, Enantioselective Addition of Trimethylsilyl Cyanide to Aldehydes Induced by a New Chiral TiflV) Complex, J. Org Chem 1998,63,6762-6763, and references tited therein. 

Inoue et al. reported that a complex prepared from AlMes and peptide Schiff base 166 is available for asymmetric cyanosilylation of aldehydes (Scheme 10.239) [630]. The enantioselectivity observed is not as high, even with a stoichiometric amount of the complex (up to 71% ee). A more recent study by Snapper and Hoveyda has, however, revealed that a similar catalyst system using Al(()t-Pr) ), and peptide Schiff base 167 is quite effective in catalytic asymmetric cyanosilylation of both aromatic and aliphatic ketones (66->98%, 80-95% ee wifh 10-20 mol% of fhe catalyst) [631]. 

In the presence of 168 a (9mol%) and a phosphine oxide (Bu),P(O) and Ph2P(O)Me for aromatic and ahphatic aldehydes, respectively, 36 mol%), slow addition of TMSCN achieves excellent enantioselectivity with a wide range of aldehydes (86-100%, 83-98% ee). The Al complex has been proposed to work as a bifunctional catalyst for dual activation of the two reactants - the Lewis acidic Al center enhances the electrophilicity of aldehydes and the Lewis basic phosphine oxide induces cyanide addition by nucleophihc activation (Scheme 10.240). This catalytic asymmetric cyanosilylation has been used for the total synthesis of epothilones [652]. 

The Lewis acid-Lewis base bifunctional catalyst 178a, prepared from Ti(Oi-Pr)4 and diol 174 (1 1), realizes highly enantioselective cyanosilylation of a variety of ketones to (R)-cyanohydrin TMS ethers (Scheme 10.241) [645]. The proposed mechanism involves Ti monocyanide complex 178b as the active catalyst this induces reaction of aldehydes with TMSCN by dual activation. Interestingly, the catalyst prepared from Gd(Oi-Pr)3 and 174 (1 2) serves for exclusive formation of (S)-cyanohy-drin TMS ethers [651]. The catalytic activity of the Gd complex is much higher than that of 178a. The results of NMR and ESI-MS analyses indicate that Gd cyanide complex 179 is the active catalyst. It has been proposed that the two Gd cyanide moieties of 179 play different roles - one activates an aldehyde as a Lewis acid and the other reacts with the aldehyde as a cyanide nucleophile. 

A sugar-based catalyst for catalytic asymmetric cyanosilylation has been developed. This catalyst, 248, is derived from tri-O-acetyl-D-glucal via the intermediates shown in Scheme 39. It incorporates a Lewis acidic and a Lewis basic site within the molecule, and it was found that the conformational constraint induced by the phenyl group was necessary for good enantioselectivity. Treatment of benzaldehyde and TmsCN with catalytic quantities of 248 gave after acid hydrolysis the cyanohydrin 249 in 80% ee, and several other aldehydes behaved similarly. 

In 2002, Snapper and Hoveyda reported a chiral peptide 15-Al(OiPr)3 complex for the cyanosilylation of ketones (Scheme 19.9). This catalyst system exhibited excellent results (67->98% peld and 80-95% enantiomeric excess) for aromatic (cyclic and acyclic) and aliphatic ketones (saturated and unsaturated). Notably, the first example of catalytic enantioselective cyanide addition to an alkynyl ketone was developed. Meanwhile, the chiral ligand 15 was recyclable, readily modifiable and easily synthesised in six steps with 75% overall yield. 

Subsequently, the Feng group developed an enantioselective cyanosilylation of ketones by a catalytic double-activation catalyst system composed of chiral (J ,J )-salen 16-triethylaluminium complex and N-oxide 17 (Scheme 19.10). High catalytic turnovers (200 for aromatic ketones, 1000 for aliphatic ones) with high enantioselectivity (up to 94% enantiomeric excess for aromatic ketones, up to 90% enantiomeric excess for aliphatic ones) were achieved under mild reaction conditions. Based on the control experiments, a double-activation model was suggested (Scheme 19.10). The chiral aluminium complex performed as a Lewis acid to activate the ketone, whereas the N-oxide acted as a Lewis base to activate trimethylsilyl cyanide and form an isocyanide species. The activated nucleophile and ketone attracted and approached each other, and so the transition state was formed. The intramolecular transfer of cyanide to the carbonyl group gives the product cyanohydrin O-TMS ether. 

Caille and coworkers finished the synthesis of AMG 221 in 2009, by the use of an enantioselective cyanosilylation of 3-methylbutan-2-one as the key step (Scheme 19.11). Using the double-activation catalytic system mentioned above, the key intermediate cyanohydrin derivative was isolated in 88% yield (47.2 g) with 85% enantiomeric excess. Six additional steps allowed to the synthesis of AMG 221, which is an inhibitor of llp-hydro g steroid dehydrogenase type 1. 

Chen F-X, Zhou H, Liu X, Qin B, Feng X, Zhang G, Jiang Y (2004) Enantioselective cyanosilylation of ketones by a catalytic double-activation method with an aluminum complex and an N-oxide. Chem Eur J 10 4790-4797... 

Systematic investigations of the catalyst structure-enantioselectivity profile in the Mannich reaction [72] led to significantly simplified thiourea catalyst 76 lacking both the Schiff base unit and the chiral diaminocyclohexane backbone (figure 6.14 Scheme 6.88). Yet, catalyst 76 displayed comparable catalytic activity (99% conv.) and enantioselectivity (94% ee) to the Schiff base catalyst 48 in the asymmetric Mannich reaction of N-Boc-protected aldimines (Schemes 6.49 and 6.88) [245]. This confirmed the enantioinductive function of the amino acid-thiourea side chain unit, which also appeared responsible for high enantioselectivities obtained with catalysts 72, 73, and 74, respectively, in the cyanosilylation of ketones (Schemes 6.84 and 6.85) [240, 242]. 

Asymmetric cyanosilylation of ketones and aldehydes is important because the cyanohydrin product can be easily converted into optically active aminoalcohols by reduction. Moberg, Haswell and coworkers reported on a microflow version of the catalytic cyanosilylation of aldehydes using Pybox [5]/lanthanoid triflates as the catalyst for chiral induction. A T-shaped borosilicate microreactor with channel dimensions of 100 pm X 50 pm was used in this study [6]. Electroosmotic flow (EOF) was employed to pump an acetonitrile solution of phenyl-Pybox, LnCl3 and benzal-dehyde (reservoir A) and an acetonitrile solution of TMSCN (reservoir B). LuC13-catalyzed microflow reactions gave similar enantioselectivity to that observed in analogous batch reactions. However, lower enantioselectivity was observed for the YbCl3-catalyzed microflow reactions than that observed for the batch reaction (Scheme 4.5). It is possible that the oxophilic Yb binds to the silicon oxide surface of the channels. 

Aldehydes and ketones are readily transformed into the corresponding cyanohydrin trimethylsilyl ethers when treated with cyanotrimethylsilane in the presence of Lewis acids (eq 1), triethylamine, or solid bases such as Cap2 or hydroxyapatite. The products can be readily hydrolyzed to the corresponding cyanohydrins. The cyanosilylation of aromatic aldehydes can be achieved with high enantioselectivity in the presence of catalytic amounts of a modified Sharpless catalyst consisting of titanium tetraisopropoxide and L-(+)-diisopropyl tartrate (eq 2). Catalysis with chiral titanium reagents yields aliphatic and aromatic cyanohydrins in high chemical and optical yields... 

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