Enamine catalysis Lewis bases

The formation of covalent substrate-catalyst adducts might occur, e.g., by single-step Lewis-acid-Lewis-base interaction or by multi-step reactions such as the formation of enamines from aldehydes and secondary amines. The catalysis of aldol reactions by formation of the donor enamine is a striking example of common mechanisms in enzymatic catalysis and organocatalysis - in class-I aldolases lysine provides the catalytically active amine group whereas typical organocatalysts for this purpose are secondary amines, the most simple being proline (Scheme 2.2). 

In the proline-based enamine catalysis, proline actually plays a dual role. The amino-group of proline acts as Lewis base, whereas the carboxylic group acts as a Brpnsted acid (Scheme 10). 

Referring to a mechanistic classification of organocatalysts (Seayad and List 2005), currently the two most prominent classes are Brpnsted acid catalysts and Lewis base catalysts. Within the latter class chiral secondary amines (enamine, iminium, dienamine activation for a short review please refer to List 2006) play an important role and can be considered as—by now—already widely extended mimetics of type I aldolases, whereas acylation catalysts, for example, refer to hydrolases or peptidases (Spivey and McDaid 2007). Thiamine-dependent enzymes, a versatile class of C-C bond forming and destructing biocatalysts (Pohl et al. 2002) with their common catalytically active coenzyme thiamine (vitamin Bi), are understood to be the biomimetic roots ofcar-bene catalysis, a further class of nucleophilic, Lewis base catalysis with increasing importance in the last 5 years. 

Proline is a stable, nontoxic, cyclic, secondary pyrrolidine-based amino acid with an increased pK value. Thus, proline is a chiral bidentate compound that can form catalytically active metal complexes (Melchiorre et al. 2008). Bidentate means that proline has not only one tooth but also a second one to bite and react. The greatest difference to other amino acids is a Lewis-base type catalysis that facilitates iminium and enamine-based reactions. It is especially noteworthy that cross-aldol condensations of unprotected glycoladehyde and racemic glyceralde-hyde in the presence of catalytic amounts of the Zn-(proline)2 gave a mixture of pentoses and hexoses (Kofoed et al. 2004). Again, proline seems to play the decisive role. The conditions are prebiotic the reaction proceeded in water for seven days at room temperature. It is remarkable that the pentose products contained ribose (34%), lyxose (32%), arabinose (21%), and xylose (12%) and that all are stable under the conditions. Thus, the diastereomeric and enantiomeric selection observed support the idea that amino acids have been the source of chirality for prebiotic sugar synthesis. 

Rueping, M., Sunden, H., Hubener, L., Sugiono, E. (2012). Asymmetric oxidative Lewis base catalysis-unifying iminium and enamine organocatalysis with oxidations. Chemical Communications (Cambridge), 48, 2201-2203. 

Nature s aldolases use combinations of acids and bases in their active sites to accomplish direct asymmetric aldolization of unmodified carbonyl compounds. Aldolases are distinguished by their enolization mode - Class I aldolases use the Lewis base catalysis of a primary amino group and Class II aldolases use the Lewis acid catalysis of a Zinc(II) cofactor. To accomplish enolization under essentially neutral, aqueous conditions, these enzymes decrease the pKa of the carbonyl donor (typically a ketone) by converting it into a cationic species, either an iminium ion (5) or an oxonium ion (8). A relatively weak Bronsted base co-catalyst then generates the nucleophilic species, an enamine- (6) or a zinc enolate (9), via deprotonation (Scheme 4.2). 

Enantioenriched indolines are very important compounds, which exist extensively in natural alkaloids or unnatural bioactive compounds. The development of facile methods toward chiral indolines continues to be a challenge for organic chemists. Unprotected indole 106 could be considered as a special enamine in an aromatic system. Inspired by the possible shift between enamine and imine of indole in the presence of strong acid. Sun and Chen et al. envisioned that a direct reduction of indole 106 to indoline 107 by a combined catalysis of Lewis base and Br0nsted acid would be highly possible (Scheme 32.24). Indeed, using the strategy... 

Chiral amine catalysts have also been used in cascade reactions mediated by SOMO catalysis [143] and Lewis base catalysis [144]. MacMillan s group developed a powerful cascade reaction moderated by SOMO catalysis. The radical cation, generated from an enamine in condensation of imidazolidinone catalyst 208 with aldehyde 207 and subsequent oxidation by Cu oxidant, was expected to engage in a series of 6-endo-trig radical cyclizations terminated by a suitable arene to give a cyclohexadi-enyl radical. After a second oxidation, rearomatization, and liberation of the catalyst, the requisite 209 would be generated (Scheme 1.90). 

Keywords Aldol, Direct, Ketone, Asymmetric catalysis, Enantioselective reaction, Diastereo-selectivity, 1,2-Diol, Aldehyde, Enamine, Lewis acid, Bronsted base, Organocatalysis, Bimetal-... 

Under proton or Lewis acid catalysis, 2- and 4-alkylpyridines of the above type are in equilibrium with the tautomeric methylene bases 57 and 58, which can function as enamines ... 

Enamines of cyclohexylamine have been enantioselectively cyclized to bicyclo[3.3.1] nonanedione systems, using acryloyl chloride and chiral pyrrolidine catalysis. Enantio-pure A-sulflnylimines have been used in asymmetric synthesis of isoquinolone alkaloids, and a stereocontrolled synthesis of 3,4,5,6-tetrahydropyrimidine-based amino acids from imino ethers has been reported. Diastereoselective additions of chiral acetals of (2-lithiophenyl)acetaldehyde to arylimines have been used in an asymmetric synthesis of 1-aryltetrahydroisoquinolines. " Organolithiums react with chiral imines, in the presence of Lewis acids or bases, to give amines in up to 100% de. Diastereoselective additions of copper reagents to imines derived from (5)-l-phenylethylamine have been reported. 

---