Copper® enolates

The lithium enolate 2a (M = Li ) prepared from the iron propanoyl complex 1 reacts with symmetrical ketones to produce the diastercomers 3 and 4 with moderate selectivity for diastereomer 3. The yields of the aldol adducts are poor deprotonation of the substrate ketone is reported to be the dominant reaction pathway45. However, transmetalation of the lithium enolate 2a by treatment with one equivalent of copper cyanide at —40 C generates the copper enolate 2b (M = Cu ) which reacts with symmetrical ketones at — 78 °C to selectively produce diastereomer 3 in good yield. Diastereomeric ratios in excess of 92 8 are reported with efficient stereoselection requiring the addition of exactly one equivalent of copper cyanide at the transmetalation step45. Small amounts of triphcnylphosphane, a common trace impurity remaining from the preparation of these iron-acyl complexes, appear to suppress formation of the copper enolate. Thus, the starting iron complex must be carefully purified. 

Reaction of the lithium enolate 2 with prochiral aldehydes at low temperature proceeds with little selectivity, producing all four possible diastereomers 3, 4, 5, and 6 in similar amounts50. Transmetalation of the lithium enolate by treatment with three equivalents of diethylaluminum chloride or with one equivalent of copper cyanide generates the corresponding cthylaluminum and copper enolates which react at — 100°C with prochiral aldehydes to produce selectively diastereomers 1 and 2, respectively50. The reactivity of tin enolates of iron- propanoyl complexes has not been described. 

The diastereoselectivity of the copper enolate 2b may be rationalized by suggesting that the chair-like cyclic transition state J is preferred which leads to the major diastereomer 4. The usual antiperiplanar enolate geometry and equatorial disposition of the aldehyde substituent are incorporated into this model. Possible transition states consistent with the stereochemistries of the observed minor aldol products are also illustrated. 

Asymmetric conjugate addition of dialkyl or diaryl zincs for the formation of all carbon quaternary chiral centres was demonstrated by the combination of the chiral 123 and Cu(OTf)2-C H (2.5 mol% each component). Yields of 94-98% and ee of up to 93% were observed in some cases. Interestingly, the reactions with dialkyl zincs proceed in the opposite enantioselective sense to the ones with diaryl zincs, which has been rationalised by coordination of the opposite enantiofaces of the prochiral enone in the alkyl- and aryl-cuprate intermediates, which precedes the C-C bond formation, and determines the configuration of the product. The copper enolate intermediates can also be trapped by TMS triflate or triflic anhydride giving directly the versatile chiral enolsilanes or enoltriflates that can be used in further transformations (Scheme 2.30) [110],... 

Interestingly, treatment of the allylic carbonate 23, which had proven problematic in the previous study, under analogous reaction conditions with the copper enolate derived from 24 furnished the a,/9-disubstituted ketone. Subsequent ring-closing metathesis furnished the 1,2-cyclohexenes 25a/25b in 75% overall yield favoring the trans-dia-stereomer 25a (2° 1°=30 1, ds=10 l) [14]. Overall, this reaction provides an alternative approach to an exo-selective Diels-Alder cycloaddition, and indicates that a-substituted enolates are even more tolerant nucleophiles than the unsubstituted derivatives. 

Scheme 10.6 Total synthesis of (-)-sugiresinol dimethyl ether using copper enolates.

Among the early attempts of amination of lithium and copper enolates were those which involved formation of a-A-(Boc)- or A-(Alloc)amino-substituted carboxylic esters, A-acyloxazolidinones and diethyl phosphonates (Scheme 33) ° . a-Lithum or a-copper derivatives of these enolates were aminated using A-lithium derivatives of A-Alloc O-(mesitylenesulfonyl)hydroxylamine 3j, NHBocOTos 31 and NHAllocOTos 3m. 

Chiral carboxyamides derived from acid chlorides and A-chiral cA-aminoindanol can be protonated and Li Cu transmetallated to generate copper enolates which react with A-lithium derivative of A-Boc-O-tosylhydroxylamine (LiBTOC) 31 to give a-A-Boc amino carboxamides in high yields and enantiomeric excess (Scheme 38) . The chiral auxiliary can be removed by acidic hydrolysis to obtain the a-aminocarboxylic acid. 

Diketones (8, 126 127). Complete details of the synthesis of 1,4-diketones by oxidative coupling of ketone enolales and trimethylsilyl enol ethers with Cu(OTf)2 are available.1 Use of isobutyronitrile is essential for the coupling it is not only a suitable solvent, but the nitrile group apparently facilitates reduction of the intermediate copper enolate to CuOTf.2 When acetonitrile is used by-products containing a nitrile group are formed. 1,4-Diketones are formed only in traces when DMF, DMSO, or HMPT is used. 

Taylor and colleagues discovered recently that IV-aryl malonamides or cyanoacetamides 312 cyclized in 53-92% yield to oxindole-3-carboxylates 313 in the presence of 5 mol% of Cu(OAc)2 using air as the stoichiometric reoxidant for the catalyst (Fig. 83) [412]. The reactions occur likely by initial formation of a copper enolate of 312. SET oxidation with elimination of CuOAc gives radical 312A, which undergoes a 5-exo cyclization to the aryl unit. A final oxidative... 

The analogous reaction of unsaturated lactones and lactams is strongly accelerated in the presence of alcohols which protonate the copper enolate formed in the conjugate reduction.281 This protocol was used in an enantioselective synthesis of the antidepressant (—)-paroxetine 324. Here, the key step was the conjugate reduction of the lactam 322 by PMHS in the presence of /-amylalcohol and catalytic amounts of CuCl2, ( S)- -tol-BINAP, and sodium /-butoxide, giving the product 323 with 90% yield and 90% ee (Scheme 90).281 The second chirality center was installed by diastereoselective alkylation of 323. 

Stereospecific cis addition of dialkylcuprates (in excess) to propynoic acids or propynoates can be effected in ether at a very low temperature (61, 175, 260). The intermediate is configurationally unstable above — 78°C and isomerizes, presumably via the enolate. Isomerization is retarded by THF as the medium (61) or by the presence of pyrrolidine (260) or TMEDA (61) as ligands. As a copper enolate is thermally stable at room temperature for long periods but addition of methyl-... 

The use of copper catalysts in the presence of silanes provides another possibility to achieve 1,4-addition selectively. The active species is hkely to be a copper hydride, which reacts to give a copper enolate, which undergoes a a-bond metathesis step with the hydrosilane (Scheme 7). ... 

Evans and Leahy reported on a method for the rhodium-catalyzed allylic alkylation using copper enolates, generated by transmetalation of the corresponding lithium enolates (equation 19). These enolates are softer and less basic nucleophiles than lithium enolates and therefore problems typically associated with enolate nncleophiles in metal-allyl chemistry can be avoided. A copper(I) enolate, derived from acetophenone derivative 63, was used as nucleophile in a regio- and stereoselective rhodinm-catalyzed alkylation of the in situ activated allylic alcohol 62. Thereby, the synthesized ketone 64, a key intermediate in the total synthesis of (—)-sugiresinol dimethyl ether (65), was produced as the only detectable regioisomer with complete conservation of enantiomeric excess. 

Activation of C=N double bonds by copper Lewis acids for nucleophilic addition has also been reported (Sch. 37) [73]. The a-imino ester 157 undergoes alkylation at the imine carbon with a variety of nucleophiles when catalyzed by copper Lewis acids. The presence of the electron-withdrawing ester group increases the reactivity of the imine and also assists in the formation of a stable five-membered chelate with the Lewis acid. Evidence for Cu(I) Lewis-acid catalysis and a tetrahedral chelate was obtained by FTIR spectroscopy, from the crystal structure of the catalyst, and from several control experiments. The authors rule out the intermediacy of a copper enol-ate in these transformations. The asymmetric alkylation of A,0-acetals with enol silanes mediated by a copper Lewis acid proceeding with high selectivity has been reported [74],... 

The continued search for methods to effect lj4-reductions using catalytic quantities of CuH produced several reports late in the last decade. The basis for these new developments lies in an appreciation for the fadlitj with which various silyl hydrides undergo transmetalation vdth copper enolates. Thus a limited amount of (PhjP)CuH (0.5-5 mol%) in the presence of PhSiHj (1.5 equivalents relative to substrate) reduces a varietj of unsaturated aldehydes and ketones in high yields (Eq. 5.14) [29]. Limitations exist with respect to the extent of steric hindrance in the educt Similar results can be achieved using BusSnH in place of PhSiHj although the latter hydride source is the appropriate (albeit expensive) choice from the environmental perspective. 

The ultimate in the three-component coupling approach to prostaglandins has now been achieved by Noyori (48). As illustrated in Fig. 15, the cuprate derived from iodide [82] was added to enone [80] in the usual fashion. Then, after addition of hexamethylphosphoramide, triphenyltin chloride was used to effect enolate interchange. As opposed to lithium (or copper) enolates, the tin enolate is cleanly alkylated with allylic iodide [81]. The protected PGE2 [83] was obtained in 78% yield. Two-step deprotection to PGEj was straightforward. 

---