Catalytic phosphate protecting groups

The use of nucleophilic catalysis to accelerate condensation reactions has been extended further by the introduction of catalytic phosphate-protecting groups. Here further rate enhancements are achieved as a result of nucleophilic catalysis because of the neighboring group effect. 

Fig. 3. Monomer building block bearing the catalytic phosphate-protecting group, 2-(l-methylimidazol-2-yl)phenyl.

Scheme 6 illustrates the use of these protecting groups in the phosphorylation of 2 -deoxynucleosides by Michelson and Todd. 5 -0-Trityl-thymidine (110) was phosphorylated with dibenzyl phosphorochloridate (44) to (111), which, after treatment with 80% acetic acid, afforded thymidine 3-(benzyl phosphate) (112). Catalytic hydrogenolysis of (112) gave thymidine 3 -phosphate. Acetylation of (110) yielded the 3 -acetate (114) which, on detritylation to (115), followed by phosphorylation, catalytic reduction, and deacetylation, gave thymidine 5 -phosphate (116), identical with the thymidylic acid obtained by enzymic hydrolysis of 2 -deoxyribonueleic acid. A rather similar sequence was applied to the preparation of the 2 -deoxycytidine analogs of (113) and (116). 

Two years after the discovery of the first asymmetric Br0nsted acid-catalyzed Friedel-Crafts alkylation, the You group extended this transformation to the use of indoles as heteroaromatic nucleophiles (Scheme 11). iV-Sulfonylated aldimines 28 are activated with the help of catalytic amounts of BINOL phosphate (5)-3k (10 mol%, R = 1-naphthyl) for the reaction with unprotected indoles 29 to provide 3-indolyl amines 30 in good yields (56-94%) together with excellent enantioselec-tivities (58 to >99% ee) [21], Antilla and coworkers demonstrated that A-benzoyl-protected aldimines can be employed as electrophiles for the addition of iV-benzylated indoles with similar efficiencies [22]. Both protocols tolerate several aryl imines and a variety of substituents at the indole moiety. In addition, one example of the use of an aliphatic imine (56%, 58% ee) was presented. 

---