Catalytic reactions involving asymmetric reduction

Asymmetric reductive acetylation was also applicable to acetoxyphenyl ketones. In this case the substrate itself acts as an acyl donor. For example, m-acetoxyace-tophenone was transformed to (R)-l-(3-hydroxyphenyl)ethyl acetate under 1 atm H2 in 95% yield [16] (Scheme 1.12). The pathway of this reaction is rather complex. It was confirmed that nine catalytic steps are involved two steps for ruthenium-catalyzed reductions, two steps for ruthenium-catalyzed racemizations, two steps... 

Subsequent major events, up until the early 1980s, have been reviewed [2], with one of the major reactions involved being that of asymmetric hydrogenation, which is especially useful and efficient. This was first developed using rhodium complexes equipped with chiral mono- or diphosphines [3-6], though many other types of reaction (e.g., hydroformylation, Diels-Alder reaction) are now well controlled in the presence of chiral organometallic catalysts. Over the past few years there has been a clear renewal of interest for organocatalysis [7], and consequently this chapter will review the specific and unusual case of the catalytic enantioselective reduction of C=C, C=0, and C=N double bonds. 

The synthesis of various new chiral (o-hydroxyaryl)oxazaphospholidine oxides (139), derived from (S)-proline derivatives, from precursors (140) have been elaborated. This two-step reaction involves an unstable metallated intermediate that undergoes a fast 1,3-rearrangement with the formation of phosphorus-carbon bond. These catalysts have been successfully applied to the catalytic asymmetric borane reduction of numerous prochiral ketones with enantiomeric excess up to 84% ee (Scheme 35). ... 

Metal alkoxides have a well-established role in catalytic reactions. In Chapter 7, a brief review on the history, characteristics and synthetic routes for preparing metal alkoxides are illustrated. The catalytic processes performed by these catalysts include polymerization of different olefin oxides and cyclic esters, asymmetric reduction of aldehydes and ketones, oxidation of sulfides and olefins, and a variety of asymmetric reactions. The remainder of the chapter discusses characteristics of these catalytic systems. Other challenges separate from the metal alkoxide catalysis involve development of catalytic protocols in solvent-free or in green solvent conditions, viz., H O or liquid CO. The second challenge is recovery of catalyst without loss of its activity. Supporting metal alkoxide onto inorganic solids, especially magnetic ones, may effectively solve the later problem. 

Prize in Chemistry. (The other half of the 2001 prize was awarded to W. Knowles and R. Noyori for their development of catalytic asymmetric reduction reactions see Section 7.14A.) The following reaction, involved in an enantioselective synthesis of the side chain of the anticancer drug paclitaxel (Taxol), serves to illustrate Sharpless s catalytic asymmetric dihydroxylation. The example utilizes a catalytic amount of K20s02(0H)4, an OSO4 equivalent, a chiral amine ligand to induce enan-tioselectivity, and NMO as the stoichiometric co-oxidant. The product is obtained in 99% enantiomeric excess (ee) ... 

Nicolaou and coworkers completed the enantioselective synthesis of these two natural products molecules through a short and equally efficient route (12 steps from commercially available material with the 4% overall yield) involving a series of cascade reactions and novel skeletal rearrangements [107b]. This unique route commenced with a CBS asymmetric reduction of ketone 288 that is easily generated from the resveratrol monomer (Scheme 10.55). The chiral benzylic alcohol 289 was obtained in 85% yield and 95% ee in the presence of one equivalent of catecholborane and catalytic amount of (/ )-(+)-2-methyl-CBS-oxazaborolidine. This newly formed C8a center would be served as a chiral source by which other stereocenters within the architectnre... 

The prime functional group for constructing C-C bonds may be the carbonyl group, functioning as either an electrophile (Eq. 1) or via its enolate derivative as a nucleophile (Eqs. 2 and 3). The objective of this chapter is to survey the issue of asymmetric inductions involving the reaction between enolates derived from carbonyl compounds and alkyl halide electrophiles. The addition of a nucleophile toward a carbonyl group, especially in the catalytic manner, is presented as well. Asymmetric aldol reactions and the related allylation reactions (Eq. 3) are the topics of Chapter 3. Reduction of carbonyl groups is discussed in Chapter 4. 

Recently, List has described a cascade reaction promoted by phosphoric acid 1 in combination with stoichiometric amounts of achiral amine, which transforms various 2,6-diketones to the corresponding ds-cyclohexylamines (Scheme 5.28) [50]. This three-step process involves initial aldolization via enamine catalysis to give conjugate iminium ion intermediate A. Next, asymmetric conjugate reduction followed by a diastereoselective 1,2 hydride addition completes the catalytic cycle. 

The discovery by the recent Nobel-laureate, Ryoji Noyori, of asymmetric hydrogenation of simple ketones to alcohols catalyzed by raras-RuCl2[(S)-binap][(S,S)-dpen] (binap = [l,l -binaphthalene-2,2/-diyl-bis(diphenylphosphane)] dpen = diphenylethylenediamine) is remarkable in several respects (91). The reaction is quantitative within hours, gives enantiomeric excesses (ee) up to 99%, shows high chemoselecti-vity for carbonyl over olefin reduction, and the substrate-to-catalyst ratio is >100,000. Moreover, the non-classical metal-ligand bifunctional catalytic cycle is mechanistically novel and involves heterolytic... 

The use of Al(III) complexes as catalysts in Lewis acid mediated reactions has been known for years. However, recent years have witnessed interesting developments in this area with the use of ingeiuously designed neutral tri-coordinate Al(lll) chelates. Representative examples involving such chelates as catalysts include (1) asymmetric acyl halide-aldehyde cyclocondensations, " (2) asymmetric Meerwein-Schmidt-Ponndorf-Verley reduction of prochiral ketones, (3) aldol transfer reactions and (4) asymmetric rearrangement of a-amino aldehydes to access optically active a-hydroxy ketones. It is important to point out that, in most cases, the use of a chelating ligand appears critical for effective catalytic activity and enantioselectivity. 

---