Conjugate addition phase-transfer catalysis

An additional interesting example is the conjugate addition of 1 to activated allylic acetates 18 under the chiral phase-transfer catalysis of 4d, and subsequent elimination reaction, as reported by Ramachandran and coworkers, as this enables the synthesis of various enantiomerically enriched glutamic add derivatives [39]. The utility of this process has been demonstrated by the transformation of (S)-19 (R = Ph) into 4-substituted pyroglutamate (2S,4S)-20, as illustrated in Scheme 2.17. 

Michael-aldol reaction as an alternative to the Morita-Baylis-Hillman reaction 14 recent results in conjugate addition of nitroalkanes to electron-poor alkenes 15 asymmetric cyclopropanation of chiral (l-phosphoryl)vinyl sulfoxides 16 synthetic methodology using tertiary phosphines as nucleophilic catalysts in combination with allenoates or 2-alkynoates 17 recent advances in the transition metal-catalysed asymmetric hydrosilylation of ketones, imines, and electrophilic C=C bonds 18 Michael additions catalysed by transition metals and lanthanide species 19 recent progress in asymmetric organocatalysis, including the aldol reaction, Mannich reaction, Michael addition, cycloadditions, allylation, epoxidation, and phase-transfer catalysis 20 and nucleophilic phosphine organocatalysis.21... 

Enantioselective Conjugate Addition Reactions via Phase-transfer Catalysis... 

Several very interesting cascade processes have also been developed under phase-transfer catalysis which are initiated by a conjugate addition reaction, although the number of reports is remarkably more limited compared to other organocatalytic cascades proceeding via other different mechanisms of activation. Representative examples will be presented in the following pages. 

The most widely studied type of cascade initiated by a conjugate addition proceeding under phase-transfer catalysis conditions involves the use of either a... 

Tanikaga and coworkers have reported the addition of nitroalkane anions to a-halo-a,P-unsaturated sulfoxides [72]. Further development of this work led to the use of nitroalkanes as alkyl group equivalents in conjugate addition to a,P-unsaturated sulfoxides [73-75]. Primary or secondary nitroalkanes such as 2-nitropropane (77), with DBU as a non-nucleophilic base, add to a,P-unsaturated sulfoxides including phenyl vinyl sulfoxide (26) to give products such as (78), which can be denitrated to yield (79) (Scheme 5.25). The Michael addition of nitroalkanes, and of diethyl N-acetylaminomalonate, to racemic phenyl vinyl sulfoxide using solid-liquid phase-transfer catalysis in the absence of solvent has also been accomplished [76]. 

Chiral ion pairs (B, Fig. 2.2) can be formed by deprotonation of the pronucleophile with a chiral Brpnsted base or employing an achiral base and a chiral phase-transfer catalyst. Chiral phase-transfer catalysis (PTC) [8] illustrates how ion pairing interactions can be used to carry out the enantioface discrimination in conjugate addition reactions. In both cases, the chiral cation is responsible for... 

Enantioselective phase-transfer catalysis (PTC) has been extensively applied for the alkylation, epoxidation, conjugate addition and related process, with the use of chiral ammonium salts being the typical transfer agent [293]. However, the related aldol... 

Cyclopropanecarboxylic esters have been prepared, in 75—86 % yield, by intramolecular alkylation of 4-chloroalkyl esters, using phase-transfer catalysis. Monoalkylation of nitro-alkenes by acrylic esters occurs in a controlled manner if a two-phase system is used, to give products of Michael addition in 45—65 % yield for five examples. An interesting variant on this reaction involves the generation of the a-nitro-carbanion by conjugate reduction of a nitroalkene with sodium borohydride followed by its conjugate addition to methyl acrylate yields of 62—95% are reported for five cases (Scheme 39). ... 

The versatile nature of cinchona alkaloid ammonium salts for phase-transfer catalysis can be illustrated by recent reports on conjugate additions [118] and a nitro-Mannich reachon [119]. Dimeric catalysts derived from quinine and quini-dine were applied in the conjugate addition of cyclic (l-ketoesters to a, 3-unsaturated carbonyl compounds. The reaction proceeded in the presence of a tertiary amine as base and afforded the products in moderate to high yield and enantioselectivity (Scheme 6.56). 

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