Catalytic reactions involving asymmetric

Figure 1.1 Asymmetric catalytic reactions involving sp to sp conversion...

Figure 1.2 Asymmetric catalytic reactions involving symmetry breaking...

In comparison to asymmetric catalytic reactions involving enolate equivalents, the catalytic chemistry of acyl anion equivalents [298] has received considerable... 

Since Trost and co-workers demonstrated that the C-C bond forming reaction between an allylic acetate and a soft nucleophile such as sodio diethyl malonate was catalysed by Pd ° complexes [39], many attempts have been made to develop a catalytic asymmetric synthesis based on this principle. A particular problem is that the catalytic reaction involves nucleophilic attack on the allyl from the side remote from Pd so that the influence of the chiral ligand is severely curtailed. The most successful early work was the reaction type exemplified in Figure 4.18(a) described by Bosnich and co-workers [40]. The essential features are the combination of a CHIRAPHOS Pd catalyst with an allylic acetate reactant carrying aryl substituents at both terminal positions. This combination gave rise to products of allylic alkylation with a typical e.e. of 80%. 

Although the first metal-catalyzed asymmetric 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction involved azomethine ylides, there has not been any significant activity in this area since then. The reactions that were described implied one of more equivalents of the chiral catalyst, and further development into a catalytic version has not been reported. 

The first application involving a catalytic reaction in an ionic liquid and a subsequent extraction step with SCCO2 was reported by Jessop et al. in 2001 [9]. These authors described two different asymmetric hydrogenation reactions using [Ru(OAc)2(tolBINAP)] as catalyst dissolved in the ionic liquid [BMIM][PFg]. In the asymmetric hydrogenation of tiglic acid (Scheme 5.4-1), the reaction was carried out in a [BMIM][PF6]/water biphasic mixture with excellent yield and selectivity. When the reaction was complete, the product was isolated by SCCO2 extraction without contamination either by catalyst or by ionic liquid. 

Pd complexes 9-12 were tested for their catalytic behavior in the asymmetric Heck reaction involving the phenylation of 2,3-dihydrofuran (Scheme 3). The results are summarized in Table 2. The two isomeric products of 2-phenyl-2,5-dihydrofuran are formed with varying yields from 80% to 0%. The obtained ee s are high. Complex 12 is shown to be catalytically inactive. The lack of catalysis in complex 12 is rationalized by differences in the steric requirements between the diphenylphosphinites 1-3 (cone angle >140°) and the more sterically hindered cyclohexyl-phosphinite 4 (cone angle >170°) and the resulting stereochemistry on the Pd center. The ligands in complex 12 adopt a... 

The solvent employed in asymmetric catalytic reactions may also have a dramatic influence on the reaction rate as well as the enantioselectivity, possibly because the solvent molecule is also involved in the catalytic cycle. Furthermore, the reaction temperature also has a profound influence on stereoselectivity. The goal of asymmetric hydrogenation or transfer hydrogenation studies is to find an optimal condition with a combination of chiral ligand, counterion, metal, solvent, hydrogen pressure, and reaction temperature under which the reactivity and the stereoselectivity of the reaction will be jointly maximized. 

Early work on the asymmetric Darzens reaction involved the condensation of aromatic aldehydes with phenacyl halides in the presence of a catalytic amount of bovine serum albumin. The reaction gave the corresponding epoxyketone with up to 62% ee.67 Ohkata et al.68 reported the asymmetric Darzens reaction of symmetric and dissymmetric ketones with (-)-8-phenylmenthyl a-chloroacetate as examples of a reagent-controlled asymmetric reaction (Scheme 8-29). When this (-)-8-phenyl menthol derivative was employed as a chiral auxiliary, Darzens reactions of acetone, pentan-3-one, cyclopentanone, cyclohexanone, or benzophenone with 86 in the presence of t-BuOK provided dia-stereomers of (2J ,3J )-glycidic ester 87 with diastereoselectivity ranging from 77% to 96%. 

One active field of research involving the Heck reaction is asymmetric Heck reactions (AHR). The objective is to achieve enantiomerically-enriched Heck products from racemic substrates using a catalytic amount of chiral ligands, making the process more practical and economical Although intermolecular Heck reactions that occurred onto carbocyclic arenes are rare, they readily take place onto many heterocycles including thiophenes, furans, thiazoles, oxazoles,... 

Computation allows one to circumvent nature s reluctance to offer the dihydride to direct detection. The first papers using molecular mechanics to study asymmetric hydrogenation appeared in the late 80 s [53-55], However, molecular mechanics is not the ideal technique for any reaction that involves bond-breaking or bond-forming, such as all catalytic reactions, and only a limited amount of reliable information was obtained from these early studies. An MP2/QC/5IXT) study of (PH3)2Rh(olefin) structures was published in... 

Sharpless stoichiometric asymmetric dihydroxylation of alkenes (AD) was converted into a catalytic reaction several years later when it was combined with the procedure of Upjohn involving reoxidation of the metal catalyst with the use of N-oxides [24] (N-methylmorpholine N-oxide). Reported turnover numbers were in the order of 200 (but can be raised to 50,000) and the e.e. for /rara-stilbene exceeded 95% (after isolation 88%). When dihydriquinidine (vide infra) was used the opposite enantiomer was obtained, again showing that quinine and quinidine react like a pair of enantiomers, rather than diastereomers. 

Catalytic asymmetric desymmetrization as a field is still growing, with new applications appearing weekly. It is evident that advances in this subfield have kept in step with advances in catalysis as a whole. Some spectacular successes have been reported in recent years, and this strategy has been applied to many new reactions. Willis mentions in conclusion to his 1999 review of this field that desymmetrization reactions involving catalytic enantioselective construction of C—C bonds are... 

The Pictet-Spengler reaction is the method of choice for the preparation of tetrahydro-P-carbolines, which represent structural elements of several natural products such as biologically active alkaloids. It proceeds via a condensation of a carbonyl compound with a tryptamine followed by a Friedel-Crafts-type cyclization. In 2004, Jacobsen et al. reported the first catalytic asymmetric variant [25]. This acyl-Pictet-Spengler reaction involves an N-acyliminium ion as intermediate and is promoted by a chiral thiourea (general Brpnsted acid catalysis). 

As with any modern review of the chemical Hterature, the subject discussed in this chapter touches upon topics that are the focus of related books and articles. For example, there is a well recognized tome on the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction that is an excellent introduction to the many varieties of this transformation [1]. More specific reviews involving the use of rhodium(II) in carbonyl ylide cycloadditions [2] and intramolecular 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions have also appeared [3, 4]. The use of rhodium for the creation and reaction of carbenes as electrophilic species [5, 6], their use in intramolecular carbenoid reactions [7], and the formation of ylides via the reaction with heteroatoms have also been described [8]. Reviews of rhodium(II) ligand-based chemoselectivity [9], rhodium(11)-mediated macrocyclizations [10], and asymmetric rho-dium(II)-carbene transformations [11, 12] detail the multiple aspects of control and applications that make this such a powerful chemical transformation. In addition to these reviews, several books have appeared since around 1998 describing the catalytic reactions of diazo compounds [13], cycloaddition reactions in organic synthesis [14], and synthetic applications of the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition [15]. 

Promising examples of the catalytic asymmetric Darzens condensation, which yields an epoxide product via carbon-carbon and carbon-oxygen bond formation, have been reported recently by two groups (Scheme 10.11). Toke and co-workers used crown ether 24 in the reaction to form the a,P-unsaturated ketone 78 [38b] with 64% ee, whereas the Shioiri group used the cinchona-derived salt 3a [52], which resulted in 78 with 69% ee. The latter authors propose a catalytic cycle involving generation of a chiral enolate in situ from an achiral inorganic base... 

The preparation of optically active /Mactams by asymmetric synthesis is also a topic of major interest, because of the pharmaceutical and biochemical importance of those molecules [44]. A typical and economical route consists of a [2+2]-cycloaddition of a ketene to an imine. Many diastereoselective versions of this reaction type are known [45] as well as catalytic processes involving chiral (metal) catalysts [46, 47] or biocatalysts [48]. A [2+2]-cycloaddition of a ketene to an imine, however, can also be performed very efficiently when applying nucleophilic amines as chiral catalysts [49-60]. Planar-chiral DMAP derivatives have also been found to be suitable catalysts [61]. 

Studies on catalytic asymmetric aza-Baylis-Hillman reaction has shown that the reaction involves rate-limiting proton transfer in the absence of added protic species, but exhibits no autocatalysis.41 Brpnsted acidic additives lead to substantial rate enhancements through acceleration of the elimination step. Furthermore, it has been found that phosphine catalysts, either alone or in combination with protic additives, can cause racemization of the aza-Baylis-Hillman product by proton exchange at the stereogenic centre. 

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