Cinchona asymmetric transformations

Early work from the McIntosh group [1 lh,85] and extensive research from the Dehmlow group [24e-i,48b] concerning chiral catalyst design is noted. Recently, Lygo and co-workers have reported short enantio- and diastereoselective syntheses of the four stereoisomers of 2-(phenylhydroxymethyl)quinuclidine. The authors report that these compounds, which contain the basic core structure of the cinchona alkaloids, will be examined as possible chiral control elements in a variety of asymmetric transformations [86]. 

A wide variety of catalytic asymmetric transformations have been achieved in the above investigations, which clearly indicates that quaternary ammonium salts derived from cinchona alkaloids are still powerful reagents, despite their limited structural diversity. Moreover, as PTC chemistry has been recognized as a highly practical approach, further progress should be expected in this area of research. 

Amine-catalyzed non-asymmetric transformations 13. 0542. Asymmetric cycHzation reactions of allenoates -with imines or a,P-unsat-urated ketones catalyzed by organocatalysts derived from cinchona alkaloids 12CEJ6712. 

Organocatalytic asymmetric hydrophosphonylation/Mannich reactions using thiourea, cinchona and Bronsted acid catalysts 12SL1108. Organocatalytic asymmetric transformations of modified Morita—Bayhs— HiUman adducts 12CSR4101. 

By using the Cinchona alkaloid-derived quaternary ammonium bromide 371, a stereoselective methylation of the phenylindanone 372 was achieved under biphasic conditions, thus representing one of the first examples of such a highly stereoselective organocatalytic asymmetric transformation. These types of transformations may be conducted in a stereoselective fashion using more commonly employed methods only with great difficulty. 

Structurally similar acids, phthalic and m-benzoic exhibit levo rotation. Other studies show similar rotations when the cinchona alkaloids are used with various other diphenic acids. It has been suggested by Kuhn that a stereospecificity exists with these alkaloids in causing rotation of one phenyl group about the biphenyl bond leading to an unsymmetrical complex. Since no active phase (other than the original alkaloid) is isolable the system may be classified as a first order asymmetric transformation. 

In 2003, Rawal reported the use of TADDOLs 177 as chiral H-bonding catalysts to facilitate highly enantioselec-tive hetero-Diels-Alder reactions between dienes 181 and different aldehydes 86 (Scheme 6.29A) [82], and also BINOL-based catalysts 178 were found to facilitate this reaction with excellent selectivities [83]. TADDOLs were also successfully used as organocatalysts for other asymmetric transformations like Mukaiyama aldol reactions, nitroso aldol reactions, or Strecker reactions to mention a few examples only [84]. In addition, also BINOL derivatives have been employed as efficient chiral H-bonding activators as exemplified in the Morita-Baylis-Hilhnan reaction of enone 184 with different carbaldehydes 86 [85]. The use of chiral squaramides for asymmetric reactions dates back to 2005 when Xie et al. first used camphor-derived squaric amino alcohols as ligands in borane reductions [86]. The first truly organocatalytic application was described by Rawal et al. in 2008 who found that minute amounts of the bifunctional cinchona alkaloid-based squaramide 180 are... 

Cinchona alkaloid-derived ammonium phenoxides as Lewis base catalysts have been appUed to asymmetric vinylogous Mukaiyama-type aldol reactions (Scheme 14.8) [30]. In the first step of this reaction, silyl compound 14 reacts with ammonium phenoxide to produce ammonium dienolate 15 with generation of trimethyl(phenoxy) silane. The latter part of this reachon mechanism is basically simQar to the reaction mechanism of ammonium fluoride-catalyzed reactions with silyl nucleophiles as shown in Scheme 14.7. This reaction system was also appUed to other asymmetric transformations [6a, 31]. 

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. 

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. 

In addition to metal catalysts, organocatalysts could also be used in asymmetric cyanation reactions. Chiral Lewis bases, modified cinchona alkaloids, catalyzed asymmetric cyanation of ketones by using ethyl cyanoformate as the cyanide source (Scheme 5.34)." Similar to metal-catalyzed reactions, ethyl cyanoformate was first activated by chiral Lewis bases to form active nucleophiles. Various acyclic and cyclic dialkyl ketones were transformed into the desired products. Because of using... 

Cinchona alkaloids, of course, have occupied the central position in the design of chiral PTCs. By employing a simple chemical transformation of the tertiary amine ofthe natural cinchona alkaloids to the corresponding quaternary ammonium salts, using active halides (e.g., aryl-methyl halides), a basic series of PTCs can be readily prepared. Cinchona alkaloid-derived PTCs have proved their real value in many types of catalytic asymmetric synthesis, including a-alkylation of modified a-amino acids for the synthesis of higher-ordered a-amino acids [2], a-alkylation of... 

The transformations that use asymmetric heterogeneous catalysis will be highlighted P-keto esters and diketone reductions by Raney nickel catalyst modified with R,R-tartaric acid and NaBr. a-Keto acid reductions with cinchona modified Pt catalysts are discussed in Chapter 18. 

As mentioned above, quaternary ammonium salts derived from cinchona alkaloids have occupied the central position as efficient PTCs in various organic transformations, especially in the asymmetric a-substitution reaction of carbonyl derivatives. A cinchona alkaloidal quaternary ammonium salt, which acts as a PTC in various organic reactions, is prepared by a simple and easy chemical transformation of the bridgehead tertiary nitrogen with a variety of active halides, mainly arylmethyl halides. Other moieties of cinchona alkaloids (the 9-hydroxy, the 6 -methoxy, or the 10,11-vinyl) are occasionally modified for the enhancement of both chemical and optical yields (Figure 6.4). 

In 1984, the first successful monumental use of cinchona PTC for asymmetric a-substitution of carbonyls was reported by Dolling and coworkers of the Merck research group (Scheme 6.1) [8], In this work, cinchoninium salt (1) was employed in the catalytic asymmetric methylation of 6,7-dichloro-5-methoxy-2-phenyl-l-indanone (2) under phase-transfer conditions. The methylated product 3, which was finally transformed to (+ )-indacrinone through three further steps, was obtained in 95% conversion with 92% enantiomeric excess (ee). Through the systematic investigation, the group reported the relationship between the chemical/optical yield and the reaction variables (e.g., amount or concentration of each chemical species, halide of... 

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