Enantioselective additions achiral substrates

The stereochemistry of 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions of azomethine ylides with alkenes is more complex. In this reaction, up to four new chiral centers can be formed and up to eight different diastereomers may be obtained (Scheme 12.4). There are three different types of diastereoselectivity to be considered, of which the two are connected. First, the relative geometry of the terminal substituents of the azomethine ylide determine whether the products have 2,5-cis or 2,5-trans conformation. Most frequently the azomethine ylide exists in one preferred configuration or it shifts between two different forms. The addition process can proceed in either an endo or an exo fashion, but the possible ( ,Z) interconversion of the azomethine ylide confuses these terms to some extent. The endo-isomers obtained from the ( , )-azomethine ylide are identical to the exo-isomers obtained from the (Z,Z)-isomer. Finally, the azomethine ylide can add to either face of the alkene, which is described as diastereofacial selectivity if one or both of the substrates are chiral or as enantioselectivity if the substrates are achiral. 

ENANTIOSELECTIVE ADDITIONS OF ACHIRAL CARBON NUCLEOPHILES TO ACHIRAL SUBSTRATES... 

Less satisfactory results have been frequently encountered in the related asymmetric cycloaddition of a vinyl epoxide to an isocyanate as in Scheme 8E.30 [160]. The modest enantioselectivities of this process are indicative of the competitive intramolecular nucleophilic addition with enantioface exchange. When the oxazolidinone was generated from an achiral substrate, somewhat higher enantioselectiviites were obtained presumably due to superposition of the enantioselection obtained in the ionization step. 

If the interconversion of the Jt-allyl intermediates 34 and 35 is much slower than nucleophihc attack, the product distribution depends on the nature of the substrate. In this case the two enantiomeric chiral substrates 30 and ent-30 are converted to the corresponding product enantiomers 36 and ent-36 with overall retention of configuration. Starting from a racemic mixture of 36 and ent-36, the two product enantiomers 36 and ent-36 are formed in a 1 1 ratio and, therefore, a chiral catalyst cannot induce enantioselectivity (except for kinetic resolution). However, the analogous reaction of the hnear, achiral substrate 31 can be rendered enantioselective if a chiral catalyst is used that adds preferentially to one of the enantiotopic faces of 31 to give either complex 34 or 35. In this case, the enantioselectivity is determined in the oxidative addition of the substrate to the catalyst while nucleophilic addition to the 7i-allyl intermediate is irrelevant for the enantiomeric excess of the overall reaction. The relative rates of k-O-k isomerization and the other processes shown in Scheme 15 strongly depend on... 

Two examples of such processes are shown in Scheme 1.6. One is the titanium TADDOLate-catalyzed addition of diethylzinc to myrtenal (see Section 4.3, [52] the other is the Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation (see Section 8.2.2, [58,63]). In both cases, the diastereoselectivity for the reaction of the substrate with an achiral reagent is low (65-70% ds), while the catalysts have enantioselectivities of >95% with achiral substrates. In these cases of double asymmetric induction, the catalyst completely overwhelms the facial bias of the chiral substrate. 

Studies on thebiomimetic synthesis of quinone antibiotics [191] led Krohn to yet another type of enantioselective transformation, namely microbial conversion of an achiral substrate into enantiomericaUy pure anthracych-nones. An adroit synthesis of the microbial transformation substrate, 4-deoxyaklanonic acid (202) [192] (Scheme 38), started from homophthahc ester 196 [193] with addition of diUthiated tert-butyl acetoacetate (197) and subsequent cychzation to isocoumarine 198 [194]. Reaction of 198 with the dilithium salt 199 gave anthrone 200 [195[. Aeration of 200 in the pres-... 

A review which covers sigmatropic rearrangements in addition to Diels-Alder reactions, 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions, electrocyclic reactions, and ene reactions has appeared. The stereochemistry of [3,3]-sigmatropic reactions of chiral carbon compounds has been reviewed, as have diastereoselective Claisen rearrangements of substrates bearing chiral auxiliary and enantioselective variants of achiral substrates. Examples of [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangements used in the synthesis of various types of 3-chromene derivatives have been reviewed. ... 

Pt/Al2C>3-cinchona alkaloid catalyst system is widely used for enantioselective hydrogenation of different prochiral substrates, such as a-ketoesters [1-2], a,p-diketones, etc. [3-5], It has been shown that in the enantioselective hydrogenation of ethyl pyruvate (Etpy) under certain reaction conditions (low cinchonidine concentration, using toluene as a solvent) achiral tertiary amines (ATAs triethylamine, quinuclidine (Q) and DABCO) as additives increase not only the reaction rate, but the enantioselectivity [6], This observation has been explained by a virtual increase of chiral modifier concentration as a result of the shift in cinchonidine monomer - dimer equilibrium by ATAs [7],... 

The metal-catalyzed asymmetric epoxidation of allylic alcohols with various enan-tiomerically pure hydroperoxides has been studied by several groups. This approach has been employed in the Ti- and V-mediated epoxidation of this class of substrates, in the presence of different achiral additives with modest enantioselectivities (ee ee < 46% ), which turned satisfactory (ee 72%) in the presence of the TADDOL-derived hydroperoxide TADOOH 73 . This oxidant has been recently employed in the oxovanadium sandwich-type POM [ZnW(V0)2(ZnW9034)2] catalyzed epoxidation of various allylic alcohols with very high catalytic efficiency (42000 turnovers) and enantiomeric ratios up to 95 5 98. 

Much of the experimental success of asymmetric epoxidation lies in exercising proper control of Eq. 6A.4 [6]. Both TI(OR)4 and Ti(tartrate)(OR)2 are active epoxidation catalysts, and because the former is achiral, any contribution by that species to the epoxidation will result in loss of enantioselectivity. The addition to the reaction of more than one equivalent of tartrate, relative to Ti, will have the effect of minimizing the leftward component of the equilibrium and will suppress the amount of Ti(OR)4 present in the reaction. The excess tartrate, however, forms Ti(tartrate)2, which has been shown to be a catalytically inactive species and will cause a decrease in reaction rate that is proportional to the excess tartrate added. The need to minimize Ti(OR)4 concentration and, at the same time, to avoid a drastic reduction in rate of epoxidation is the basis for the recommendation of a 10-20 mol % excess of tartrate over Ti for formation of the catalytic complex. After the addition of hydroperoxide and allylic alcohol to the reaction, the concentration of ROH will increase accordingly, and this will increase the leftward pressure on the equilibrium shown in Eq. 6A.4. Fortunately, in most situations this shift apparently is extremely slight and is effectively suppressed by the use of excess tartrate. A shift in the equilibrium does begin to occur, however, when the reaction is run in the catalytic mode and the amount of catalyst used is less than 5 mol % relative to allylic alcohol substrate. Loss in enantioselectivity then may be observed. This factor is the basis of the recommendation for use of 5-10 mol % of Ti-tartrate complex when the catalytic version of asymmetric epoxidation is used. 

If the substrate contains two identical substituents at one terminus of the allylic position such as shown in Scheme 8E.26, the it-allyl intermediate can undergo enantioface exchange via the formation of a a-palladium species at that terminus. This process should occur faster than the nucleophilic addition, which is the enantio-determining step (fc, > 2[Nu ] and 2[Nu ]). Thus, enantioselection can be derived from the relative rate of the nucleophilic addition to each diastereomer the relative stabilities of the two diastereomeric complexes need not have a direct effect on the enantioselectivity (Curtin-Hammett conditions). Although the achiral allylic isomer 120 is expected to follow the same kinetic pathway as the racemic substrate 119, the difference between the results from the two systems often gives an indication as to the origin of enantioselection—complexation or ionization versus nucleophilic addition. 

On the basis of their observation that achiral 2,2 -bipyridyl promotes the reaction between crotyltrichlorosilane and benzaldehyde, the Barrett group screened chiral pyridine molecules as Lewis-base catalysts for this reaction [175]. The pyridinylox-azoline 164a was identified as the most efficient organocatalyst. In the presence of this catalyst, which was, however, used in stoichiometric amounts, asymmetric addition of (E)-crotyltrichlorosilane 158b to aldehydes gave the anti products (S,S)-159 in yields of 61-91% and with enantioselectivity from 36 to 74% ee (Scheme 6.76) [175], Diastereoselectivity is high, because only the anti diastereomers were obtained. Aromatic aldehydes and cinnamylaldehyde were used as substrates. 

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