Asymmetric cinchona alkaloids

A catalytic enantio- and diastereoselective dihydroxylation procedure without the assistance of a directing functional group (like the allylic alcohol group in the Sharpless epox-idation) has also been developed by K.B. Sharpless (E.N. Jacobsen, 1988 H.-L. Kwong, 1990 B.M. Kim, 1990 H. Waldmann, 1992). It uses osmium tetroxide as a catalytic oxidant (as little as 20 ppm to date) and two readily available cinchona alkaloid diastereomeis, namely the 4-chlorobenzoate esters or bulky aryl ethers of dihydroquinine and dihydroquinidine (cf. p. 290% as stereosteering reagents (structures of the Os complexes see R.M. Pearlstein, 1990). The transformation lacks the high asymmetric inductions of the Sharpless epoxidation, but it is broadly applicable and insensitive to air and water. Further improvements are to be expected. 

Alkylation of protected glycine derivatives is one method of a-amino acid synthesis (75). Asymmetric synthesis of a D-cx-amino acid from a protected glycine derivative by using a phase-transfer catalyst derived from the cinchona alkaloids (8) has been reported (76). 

Stereoisomerism in the Cinchona Bases It was at first common practice to number the four asymmetric carbon atoms indicated in the general formula (I), 1, 2, 3 and 4, but this is now replaced by the more general system introduced by Rabe, who suggested the name ruban for (HI), which can be regarded as the parent substance of the natural cinchona alkaloids, and rubatoxan (IV) for that of the quinicines (quinatoxines). The formifiae, with notation, for ruban (III) and rubatoxan (IV) are shown below, and the general formula (I) for cinchona bases has been numbered in accordance with that scheme. 

Another important reaction associated with the name of Sharpless is the so-called Sharpless dihydroxylation i.e. the asymmetric dihydroxylation of alkenes upon treatment with osmium tetroxide in the presence of a cinchona alkaloid, such as dihydroquinine, dihydroquinidine or derivatives thereof, as the chiral ligand. This reaction is of wide applicability for the enantioselective dihydroxylation of alkenes, since it does not require additional functional groups in the substrate molecule ... 

The actual catalyst is a complex formed from osmium tetroxide and a chiral ligand, e.g. dihydroquinine (DHQ) 9, dihydroquinidine (DHQD), Zj -dihydroqui-nine-phthalazine 10 or the respective dihydroquinidine derivative. The expensive and toxic osmium tetroxide is employed in small amounts only, together with a less expensive co-oxidant, e.g. potassium hexacyanoferrate(lll), which is used in stoichiometric quantities. The chiral ligand is also required in small amounts only. For the bench chemist, the procedure for the asymmetric fihydroxylation has been simplified with commercially available mixtures of reagents, e.g. AD-mix-a or AD-mix-/3, ° containing the appropriate cinchona alkaloid derivative ... 

Arai and co-workers have used chiral ammonium salts 89 and 90 (Scheme 1.25) derived from cinchona alkaloids as phase-transfer catalysts for asymmetric Dar-zens reactions (Table 1.12). They obtained moderate enantioselectivities for the addition of cyclic 92 (Entries 4—6) [43] and acyclic 91 (Entries 1-3) chloroketones [44] to a range of alkyl and aromatic aldehydes [45] and also obtained moderate selectivities on treatment of chlorosulfone 93 with aromatic aldehydes (Entries 7-9) [46, 47]. Treatment of chlorosulfone 93 with ketones resulted in low enantioselectivities. 

Table 1.12 Cinchona alkaloid-derived phase-transfer catalysts for asymmetric Darzens reactions.

Azirines (three-membered cyclic imines) are related to aziridines by a single redox step, and these reagents can therefore function as precursors to aziridines by way of addition reactions. The addition of carbon nucleophiles has been known for some time [52], but has recently undergone a renaissance, attracting the interest of several research groups. The cyclization of 2-(0-tosyl)oximino carbonyl compounds - the Neber reaction [53] - is the oldest known azirine synthesis, and asymmetric variants have been reported. Zwanenburg et ah, for example, prepared nonracemic chiral azirines from oximes of 3-ketoesters, using cinchona alkaloids as catalysts (Scheme 4.37) [54]. 

Azirines can be prepared in optically enriched form by the asymmetric Neber reaction mediated by Cinchona alkaloids. Thus, ketoxime tosylates 173, derived from 3-oxocarhoxylic esters, are converted to the azirine carboxylic esters 174 in the presence of a large excess of potassium carbonate and a catalytic amount of quinidine. The asymmetric bias is believed to be conferred on the substrate by strong hydrogen bonding via the catalyst hydroxyl group <96JA8491>. 

Interestingly, certain chiral tertiary bases, viz., the Cinchona alkaloids, result in an asymmetric 1,3-elimination to give enantiomerically enriched azirine esters 29 (Scheme 15). The best results were obtained with quinidine in toluene as the solvent at a rather high dilution (2 mg mL ) at 0 °C. In an alcoholic solvent no asymmetric conversion was observed. It is of importance to note that the pseudoenantiomers of the alkaloid bases gave opposite antipodes of the azirine ester, whereby quinidine leads to the predominant formation of the (k)-enan-tiomer (ee = -80%). To explain this asymmetric Neber reaction, it is suggested... 

Catalytic asymmetric hydrogenation is a relatively developed process compared to other asymmetric processes practised today. Efforts in this direction have already been made. The first report in this respect is the use of Pd on natural silk for hydrogenating oximes and oxazolones with optical yields of about 36%. Izumi and Sachtler have shown that a Ni catalyst modified with (i ,.R)-tartaric acid can be used for the hydrogenation of methylacetoacetate to methyl-3-hydroxybutyrate. The group of Orito in Japan (1979) and Blaser and co-workers at Ciba-Geigy (1988) have reported the use of a cinchona alkaloid modified Pt/AlaO.i catalyst for the enantioselective hydrogenation of a-keto-esters such as methylpyruvate and ethylpyruvate to optically active (/f)-methylacetate and (7 )-ethylacetate. 

Introduction Since we had already developed the novel asymmetric addition of lithium acetylide to ketimine 5, we did not spend any time on investigating any chiral resolution methods for Efavirenz . Our previous method was applied to 41. In the presence of the lithium alkoxide of cinchona alkaloids, the reaction proceeded to afford the desired alcohol 45, as expected, but the enantiomeric excess of 45 was only in the range 50-60%. After screening various readily accessible chiral amino alcohols, it was found that a derivative of ephedrine, (1J ,2S) l-phenyl-2-(l-pyrrolidinyl)propan-l-ol (46), provided the best enantiomeric excess of 45 (as high as 98%) with an excellent yield (vide infra). Prior to the development of asymmetric addition in detail, we had to prepare two additional reagents, the chiral modifier 46 and cyclopropylacetylene (37). 

Catalytic enantioselective nucleophilic addition of nitroalkanes to electron-deficient alke-nes is a challenging area in organic synthesis. The use of cinchona alkaloids as chiral catalysts has been studied for many years. Asymmetric induction in the Michael addition of nitroalkanes to enones has been carried out with various chiral bases. Wynberg and coworkers have used various alkaloids and their derivatives, but the enantiomeric excess (ee) is generally low (up to 20%).199 The Michael addition of methyl vinyl ketone to 2-nitrocycloalkanes catalyzed by the cinchona alkaloid cinchonine affords adducts in high yields in up to 60% ee (Eq. 4.137).200... 

Another useful method for the asymmetric oxidation of enol derivatives is osmium-mediated dihydroxylation using cinchona alkaloid as the chiral auxiliary. The oxidation of enol ethers and enol silyl ethers proceeds with enantioselectivity as high as that of the corresponding dihydroxylation of olefins (vide infra) (Scheme 30).139 It is noteworthy that the oxidation of E- and Z-enol ethers gives the same product, and the E/Z ratio of the substrates does not strongly affect the... 

Another microwave-mediated intramolecular SN2 reaction forms one of the key steps in a recent catalytic asymmetric synthesis of the cinchona alkaloid quinine by Jacobsen and coworkers [209]. The strategy to construct the crucial quinudidine core of the natural product relies on an intramolecular SN2 reaction/epoxide ringopening (Scheme 6.103). After removal of the benzyl carbamate (Cbz) protecting group with diethylaluminum chloride/thioanisole, microwave heating of the acetonitrile solution at 200 °C for 2 min provided a 68% isolated yield of the natural product as the final transformation in a 16-step total synthesis. 

The enantioselective hydrogenation of prochiral substances bearing an activated group, such as an ester, an acid or an amide, is often an important step in the industrial synthesis of fine and pharmaceutical products. In addition to the hydrogenation of /5-ketoesters into optically pure products with Raney nickel modified by tartaric acid [117], the asymmetric reduction of a-ketoesters on heterogeneous platinum catalysts modified by cinchona alkaloids (cinchonidine and cinchonine) was reported for the first time by Orito and coworkers [118-121]. Asymmetric catalysis on solid surfaces remains a very important research area for a better mechanistic understanding of the interaction between the substrate, the modifier and the catalyst [122-125], although excellent results in terms of enantiomeric excesses (up to 97%) have been obtained in the reduction of ethyl pyruvate under optimum reaction conditions with these Pt/cinchona systems [126-128],... 

The first attempt to effect the asymmetric cw-dihydroxylation of olefins with osmium tetroxide was reported in 1980 by Hentges and Sharpless.54 Taking into consideration that the rate of osmium(VI) ester formation can be accelerated by nucleophilic ligands such as pyridine, Hentges and Sharpless used 1-2-(2-menthyl)-pyridine as a chiral ligand. However, the diols obtained in this way were of low enantiomeric excess (3-18% ee only). The low ee was attributed to the instability of the osmium tetroxide chiral pyridine complexes. As a result, the naturally occurring cinchona alkaloids quinine and quinidine were derived to dihydroquinine and dihydroquinidine acetate and were selected as chiral... 

Since Sharpless discovery of asymmetric dihydroxylation reactions of al-kenes mediated by osmium tetroxide-cinchona alkaloid complexes, continuous efforts have been made to improve the reaction. It has been accepted that the tighter binding of the ligand with osmium tetroxide will result in better stability for the complex and improved ee in the products, and a number of chiral auxiliaries have been examined in this effort. Table 4 11 (below) lists the chiral auxiliaries thus far used in asymmetric dihydroxylation of alkenes. In most cases, diamine auxiliaries provide moderate to good results (up to 90% ee). 

Scheme 10. Asymmetric synthesis of the a,a-dialkyl-a-amino acids 37 by use of the cinchona alkaloid derivative 12.

Scheme 19. Asymmetric Michael reaction by use of cinchona alkaloid derivatives.

B. Lygo, P. G. Wainwright, A New Class of Asymmetric Phase-Transfer Catalysts Derived from Cinchona Alkaloids - Application in the Enantioselective Synthesis of a-Amino Acids , Tetrahedron Lett., 1997, 38, 8595-8598. 

This chapter deals primarily with cinchona-alkaloid-catalyzed asymmetric syntheses. 

In the second chapter, Hans Wynberg describes one facet—namely asymmetric catalysis—of the currently very active field of asymmetric synthesis. Wynberg and his co-workers have devised efficient asymmetric syntheses catalyzed by cinchona alkaloids. Several of these reactions are reviewed and rationalized by means of mechanistic models. 

Polymer-supported [e.g. 8, 9] and silica-supported [10] cinchona alkaloids have been used in the asymmetric dihydroxylation of alkenes using osmium tetroxide. Enantiomeric excesses >90% have been achieved for diols derived from styrene derivatives. 

Asymmetric induction of the Michael addition of thiols to electron-deficient alkenes (4.6.1) has been achieved in high overall conversion using both free [e.g. 12-20] and polymer-supported [e.g. 21, 22] cinchona alkaloids and their salts [23-25], but with varying degrees of optical purity. The corresponding asymmetric Michael addition of selenophenols to cyclohex-2-enones is promoted by cinchoni-dine to give a chiral product (43% ee) [26],... 

The catalyst is a combination of a chemo-catalyst and a natural product taken from the cinchona alkaloids giving amazing results. In phosphine catalysed asymmetric catalysis these types of structures are lacking, as nature does not produce phosphines ( ) and the phosphines used in the early years of development of asymmetric homogeneous catalysis lacked the complexity of... 

Asymmetric dihydroxylation can be achieved using osmium tetroxide in conjunction with a chiral nitrogen ligand. " The very successful Sharpless procedure uses the natural cinchona alkaloids dihydroquinine (DHQ) and its diastereomer dihy-droquinidine (DHQD), as exemplified in the epoxidation of imni-stilbene... 

Janda, Bolm and Zhang generated soluble polymer-bound catalysts for the asymmetric dihydroxylation by attaching cinchona alkaloid derivatives to polyethylene glycol monomethyl ether (MeO-PEG) [84—87]. Since these polymeric catalysts like (24) are soluble in many common solvents they are often as effective as their small homogenous counterparts. Janda et al. prepared catalyst (24) in which two dihydroquinidine (DHQD) units were linked together by phthalazine and finally were attached to MeO-PEG via one of the bicyclic ring system moieties (Scheme... 

Other functionalized supports that are able to serve in the asymmetric dihydroxylation of alkenes were reported by the groups of Sharpless (catalyst 25) [88], Sal-vadori (catalyst 26) [89-91] and Cmdden (catalyst 27) (Scheme 4.13) [92]. Commonly, the oxidations were carried out using K3Fe(CN)g as secondary oxidant in acetone/water or tert-butyl alcohol/water as solvents. For reasons of comparison, the dihydroxylation of trons-stilbene is depicted in Scheme 4.13. The polymeric catalysts could be reused but had to be regenerated after each experiment by treatment with small amounts of osmium tetroxide. A systematic study on the role of the polymeric support and the influence of the alkoxy or aryloxy group in the C-9 position of the immobilized cinchona alkaloids was conducted by Salvadori and coworkers [89-91]. Co-polymerization of a dihydroquinidine phthalazine derivative with hydroxyethylmethacrylate and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate afforded a functionalized polymer (26) with better swelling properties in polar solvents and hence improved performance in the dihydroxylation process [90]. 

While this manuscript was under preparation, a considerable number of examples of sohd-phase-attached catalysts appeared in the literature which is a clear indication for the dynamic character of this field. These include catalysts based on palladium [131, 132], nickel [133] and rhodium [134] as well applications in hydrogenations including transfer hydrogenations [135, 136] and oxidations [137]. In addition various articles have appeared that are dedicated to immobilized chiral h-gands for asymmetric synthesis such as chiral binol [138], salen [139], and bisoxa-zoline [140] cinchona alkaloid derived [141] complexes. 

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