Dual activation transition-state model

Corey reported a catalytic enantioselective cyanosilylation of methyl ketones using combination of a chiral oxazaborolidinium and an achiral phosphine oxide, [Eq. (13.23)]. An intermolecular dual activation of a substrate by boron and TMSCN by the achiral phosphine oxide (MePh2PO) is proposed as a transition-state model (54). The same catalyst was also used for cyanosilylation of aldehydes ... 

Both chiral tertiary amine-(thio)ureas 20 [39] and 21 [40] have been able to catalyze the a-amination of 3-ketoesters in excellent yields and high enantioselec-tivity. In these reactions, cyclic 3-ketoesters performed optimum while the acyclic counterparts reacted very slowly, giving very low ee. A transition state model involving dual activation of substrates is supported by DFT calculations [42]. The axially chiral guanidine 22 is another highly active catalyst for a-amination of various cyclic and acyclic 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds. 

There have been significant discoveries of methods that enable the enantioselective addition of an alkyne to an aldehyde or a ketone [182]. The resulting chiral propargyl alcohols are amenable to a wide variety of subsequent structural modifications and function as useful, versatile chemical building blocks. In 1994, Corey reported the enantioselective addition reactions of boryl acetylides such as 292, prepared from the corresponding stannyl acetylenes (e.g., 291) in the presence of the oxazaborolidine 293 as the chiral catalyst (Scheme 2.36) [183]. Both aliphatic and aromatic aldehydes were demonstrated to participate in these addition reactions, which proceeded in high yields and with impressive enantioselectivity. The proposed transition state model 295 is believed to involve dual activation both of the nucleophile (acetylide) and of the electrophile (aldehyde). The model bears a resemblance to the constructs previously proposed for alkylzinc addition reactions (Noyori, 153) and borane reductions (Corey. 188). 

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