Cinchona alkaloids enones

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... 

B. Lygo, P. G. Wainwright Phase-Transfer Catalyzed Asymmetric Epoxidation of Enones using N-Anthracenylmethyl-Substituted Cinchona Alkaloids , Tetrahedron 1999, 55,6289-6300. 

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 first organocatalyzed conjugate addition of a-substituted p-ketoester to a,P-unsaturated ketones was presented by Deng et al. [42] (Scheme 3). Although traditional Cinchona alkaloids were efficient catalysts for conjugate addition of carbon nucleophiles to nitroalkenes and sulfones, replacement of the C(9)-OH with an ester group (Q-7b) showed great improvement in stereoselectivity. The reaction is applicable to a variety of cyclic and acyclic enones (16,18). 

The majority of the Michael-type conjugate additions are promoted by amine-based catalysts and proceed via an enamine or iminium intermediate species. Subsequently, Jprgensen et al. [43] explored the aza-Michael addition of hydra-zones to cyclic enones catalyzed by Cinchona alkaloids. Although the reaction proceeds under pyrrolidine catalysis via iminium activation of the enone, and also with NEtj via hydrazone activation, both methods do not confer enantioselectivity to the reaction. Under a Cinchona alkaloid screen, quinine 3 was identified as an effective aza-Michael catalyst to give 92% yield and 1 3.5 er (Scheme 4). 

Novel asymmetric conjugate-type reactions have been accomplished with Cinchona alkaloid-derived chiral thioureas, including less traditional reactions such as asymmetric decarboxylation [71]. In the following discussion, asymmetric reactions involving nitro-olefms, aldehydes and enones, and imines will be highlighted (Fig. 5). 

The epoxidation of enones using chiral phase transfer catalysis (PTC) is an emerging technology that does not use transition metal catalysts. Lygo and To described the use of anthracenylmethyl derivatives of a cinchona alkaloid that are capable of catalyzing the epoxidation of enones with remarkable levels of asymmetric control and a one pot method for oxidation of the aUyl alcohol directly into... 

The Cinchona alkaloid-derived thiourea (112), has been developed as an organocat-alyst for conjugate addition of a wide range of nucleophilic enol species to enones. The reaction is characterized by high enantioselectivities and mild reaction condition.160... 

The highest enantioselectivity (up to >99%) yet achieved in the addition of S-nucleophiles to enones was reported in 2002 by Deng et al. [59]. By systematic screening of monomeric and dimeric cinchona alkaloid derivatives they identified the dihydroquinidine-pyrimidine conjugate (DHQD PYR (72, Scheme 4.35) as the most effective catalyst. This material is frequently used in the Sharpless asymmetric dihydroxylation and is commercially available. Screening of several aromatic thiols resulted in the identification of 2-thionaphthol as the nucleophile giving best yields and enantioselectivity. Examples for the (DHQD PYR-catalyzed addition of 2-thionaphthol to enones are summarized in Scheme 4.35. 

Phase-transfer catalysis has been widely been used for asymmetric epoxidation of enones [100]. This catalytic reaction was pioneered by Wynberg et al., who used mainly the chiral and pseudo-enantiomeric quaternary ammonium salts 66 and 67, derived from the cinchona alkaloids quinine and quinidine, respectively [101-105],... 

Fig. 6.2 Cinchona alkaloid catalysts for 1,4-additions of thiols to cyclic enones.

Benzotriazole was found to be an efficient ligand for the Cu(I) iodide-catalyzed N-arylation of imidazoles with aryl and heteroaryl halides <07TL4207>. The first enantioselective conjugate addition reaction of I //-benzotriazole with a variety of enones catalyzed by a cinchona alkaloid thiourea affords Michael adducts in good yields with moderate to good enantioselectivities has been reported <07S2576>. 

In addition to dimethylcuprates, various alternate cuprate reagents can be used. As shown in Scheme 11.12, a divinylcuprate was used in a 1,4-addition employed in the total synthesis of meroquinene 42 (Scheme 11.12), a degradation product of cinchonine and also an intermediate en route to cinchona alkaloids such as quinine [52,53]. As illustrated, enone 36, available via acetoxyglucal 35 (Scheme 11.11), was treated with divinylcuprate to exclusively afford the axially substituted 4-vinyl derivative 38. Trapping of this intermediate with methyl bromoacetate gave a mixture of C3 epimers readily equilibrated to 39 in the presence of triethylamine. Further manipulations of 39 gave the 2-deoxy derivative 40 and, in turn, the dialdehyde 41. Cyclization of the latter to enantiomerically pure meroquinene 42 proceeded uneventfully. 

A variation of the Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation is to employ chiral hydroperoxides. The chiral iminium salt 89 has moderate enantiocontrol for epoxidation. Quatemized cinchona alkaloids can serve as chiral catalyst and phase-transfer agents in epoxidation of enones with NaOCl. Enones are also epoxidized by oxygen in the presence of diethylzinc and A-methylpseudoephedrine, whereas IZj-enones are submitted to enantioselective epoxidation by t-BuOOH-O-PrO),Yb and the BINOL 90. 

Enantioselective Michael addition of thiols to enones is a useful reaction for the synthesis of sex pheromones [26] and terpenes [27]. For example, enantioselective Michael additions of thiols to 2-cyclohexenone (64) and maleic acid esters in the presence of chiral bases such as cinchona alkaloids [28, 29] and optically active amino alcohols [30, 31] have been reported. It has also been found that the enantioselective Michael addition reaction proceeds efficiently in an inclusion crystal... 

The Jorgensen group also applied the parent cinchona alkaloids as catalysts to the aza-Michael addition of hydrazones 8 to cyclic enones 9 [4] and the asymmetric deconjugative Michael reaction of alkylidene cyanoacetates 10 with acrolein (11) [5], However, only a moderate level of enantioselectivity was obtained in both reactions (Scheme 9.4). Of note, for the deconjugative Michael reaction, the delocalized allylic anion 12 could be generated via the deprotonation of 10 by the cinchona base and might attack the electrophilic enal at either the a- or the y-position. However, in this study, only the a-adducts were produced. 

Conjugate additions of thiols or thioacetates to a-enones, a,P-unsaturated esters or nitrostyrenes are catalyzed by cinchona alkaloids [173, 1058]. Even under pressure [1388], the adducts are obtained with an enantioselectivity lower than 75%. However, the use of 7.41 as catalyst induces higher selectivities [173] (Figure 7.36). 

Aza-Henry reaction is rendered asymmetric by quaternary salts of Cinchona alkaloids. Addition reactions. Changing the 9-hydroxy group of Cinchona alkaloids to a 9-epiamino group not only is synthetically expedient, such products often show excellent catalytic activities in many asymmetric reactions. Those derived from dihydrocinchona alkaloids mediate Michael reactions to good results, including addition of indole to enones, and carbonyl compounds to nitroalkenes. Salt 4 has also been successfully employed in the alkenylation of t-butyl a-aryl-a-cyanoacetate. ... 

Reaction with alkaline peroxide (or hypochlorite) and a chiral catalyst allows the asymmetric epoxidation of enones. Excellent asymmetric induction has been achieved using metal-chiral ligand complexes, such as those derived from lanthanides and (/ )- or (5)-BlNOL. Alternatively, phase-transfer catalysis using ammonium salt derivatives of Cinchona alkaloids, or the use of polyanuno acid... 

Lygo B, Wainwright PG. Hiase-transfer catalysed asymmetric epoxidation of enones using N-anthracenyhnethyl-substituted Cinchona alkaloids. Tetrahedron 1999 ... 

Some other very important events in the historic development of asymmetric organocatalysis appeared between 1980 and the late 1990s, such as the development of the enantioselective alkylation of enolates using cinchona-alkaloid-based quaternary ammonium salts under phase-transfer conditions or the use of chiral Bronsted acids by Inoue or Jacobsen for the asymmetric hydro-cyanation of aldehydes and imines respectively. These initial reports acted as the launching point for a very rich chemistry that was extensively developed in the following years, such as the enantioselective catalysis by H-bonding activation or the asymmetric phase-transfer catalysis. The same would apply to the development of enantioselective versions of the Morita-Baylis-Hillman reaction,to the use of polyamino acids for the epoxidation of enones, also known as the Julia epoxidation or to the chemistry by Denmark in the phosphor-amide-catalyzed aldol reaction. ... 

Scheme 4.66 Enantioselective sulfa-Michael reaction of arylthiols with enones catalyzed by natural cinchona alkaloids.

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