Enantioselectivity mechanistic studies

Similar to the CuOTf/PyBox system, the CuBr/QUINAP system also gave high enantioselectivities of the three component reactions to construct propargyl amines from aldehydes, amines, and alkynes (Scheme 5.6). In this system various aldehydes including aromatic aldehydes and aliphatic aldehydes could be used and a wide range of chiral propargyl amines were prepared in good yields and enantioselectivities. Mechanistic studies showed that the dimeric Cu/QUINAP complex is the catalytically active species that differs from the previous reaction. 

Using the racemic substrate (3.57), a highly selective kinetic resolution was achieved, affording the reduced product (3.58) and recovered starting material, both with very high enantioselectivity. Mechanistic studies and further details of the scope of the reaction have also been published. 

Of all the work described in this thesis, this discovery is probably the most significant. Given the fact that the arene - arene interactions underlying the observed enantioselectivity of ftie Diels-Alder reactions described in Chapter 3 are also encountered in other organic reactions, we infer that, in the near future, the beneficial influence of water on enantioselectivity can also be extended to these transformations. Moreover, the fact that water can now be used as a solvent for enantioselective Lewis-add catalysed reactions facilitates mechanistic studies of these processes, because the number of equilibria that need to be considered is reduced Furthermore, knowledge and techniques from aqueous coordination chemistry can now be used directly in enantioselective catalysis. 

The catalytic enantioselective cycloaddition reaction of carbonyl compounds with conjugated dienes has been in intensive development in recent years with the main focus on synthetic aspects the number of mechanistic studies has been limited. This chapter will focus on the development and understanding of cycloaddition reactions of carbonyl compounds with chiral Lewis acid catalysts for the preparation of optically active six-membered ring systems. 

Mermerian AH, Fu GC (2005) Catalytic enantioselective construction of all-carbon quaternary stereocenters synthesis and mechanistic studies of the C-acylation of silyl ketene acetals. J Am Chem Soc 127 5604—5607... 

Widenhoefer has also disclosed an interesting extension consisting of hydrosilylative cyclization of a diene catalyzed by palladium. High enantioselectivity (up to 95% ee) was achieved by using palladium catalysts with Ci-symmetric pyridine-oxazoline ligands351,364 and recent mechanistic studies have confirmed the involvement of an intramolecular carbometallation step.365... 

After some mechanistic studies showing that the reduction of N,0-acetals proceeds via a prochiral iminium cation, Bomer et al. aimed at finding an enantioselective catalyst for this transformation by preparing a library of 144 catalysts... 

Mechanistic studies103 revealed that chiral ketone-mediated asymmetric epoxidation of hydroxyl alkenes is highly pH dependent. Lower enantioselectivity is obtained at lower pH values at high pH, epoxidation mediated by chiral ketone out-competes the racemic epoxidation, leading to higher enantioselectivity. (For another mechanistic study on ketone-mediated epoxidation of C=C bonds, see Miaskiewicz and Smith.104)... 

D. L. Hughes, U.-H. Dolling, K M Ryan, R F. Schoene-waldt, E. I. J. Grabowski, A Kinetic and Mechanistic Study of the Enantioselective Phase-Transfer Methyla-tion of 6,7-Dichloro-5-methoxy-2-phenyl-l-indanone , J. Org. Chem. 1987, 52, 4745-4752... 

The silacyclopropanation of acyclic and cyclic alkenes with 169, catalyzed by AgOTf, occur at room temperature or even below to yield new cyclosilapropanes 173-177. In the case of chiral /3-pinene, the silacyclopropanation occurs enantioselectively (dr > 95 5) (Scheme 26).312 Mechanistic studies have been undertaken, which suggest that silyl silver complexes play an important role in the catalytic cycle of the silylene transfer.310... 

The enantioselectivity increases dramatically when the ligands contain electron-withdrawing P-aryl substituents. Electron-donating substituents on the substrate give the highest ee (91% for 6-methoxy-2-vinylnaphthalene in apolar solvents). Mechanistic studies at room temperature have shown that at low concentration of HCN nickel zero species are the resting states, but at higher concentrations of HCN q3-benzyl nickel cyanide species were also observed. 

Aldol reactions of silyl enolates are promoted by a catalytic amount of transition metals through transmetallation generating transition metal enolates. In 1995, Shibasaki and Sodeoka reported an enantioselective aldol reaction of enol silyl ethers to aldehydes using a Pd-BINAP complex in wet DMF. Later, this finding was extended to a catalytic enantioselective Mannich-type reaction to a-imino esters by Sodeoka s group [Eq. (13.21)]. Detailed mechanistic studies revealed that the binuclear p-hydroxo complex 34 is the active catalyst, and the reaction proceeds through a palladium enolate. The transmetallation step would be facilitated by the hydroxo ligand transfer onto the silicon atom of enol silyl ethers ... 

The efficiency with which modified Cinchona alkaloids catalyze conjugate additions of a-substituted a-cyanoacetates highlights the nitrile group s stereoselective role with the catalyst. Deng et al. [60] utilized this observation to develop a one-step construction of chiral acyclic adducts that have non-adjacent, 1,3-tertiary-quatemary stereocenters. Based on their mechanistic studies and proposed transition state model, the bifimctional nature of the quinoline C(6 )-OH Cinchona alkaloids could induce a tandem conjugate addition-protonation reaction to create the tertiary and quaternary stereocenters in an enantioselective and diastereoselective manner (Scheme 18). 

With the basic (albeit unconventional) tools at hand, we will focus in the following on the detection of key intermediates with standard NMR and the application of the PHIP method to mechanistic studies of enantioselective enamide hydrogenations. 

A further catalytic method for asymmetric sulfoxidation of aryl alkyl sulfides was reported by Adam s group, who utilized secondary hydroperoxides 16a, 161 and 191b as oxidants and asymmetric inductors (Scheme 114) . This titanium-catalyzed oxidation reaction by (S)-l-phenylethyl hydroperoxide 16a at —20°C in CCI4 afforded good to high enantiomeric excesses for methyl phenyl and p-tolyl alkyl sulfides ee up to 80%). Detailed mechanistic studies showed that the enantioselectivity of the sulfide oxidation results from a combination of a rather low asymmetric induction in the sulfoxidation ee <20%) followed by a kinetic resolution of the sulfoxide by further oxidation to the sulfone... 

An extensive spectroscopic and mechanistic study on the enantioselective Cu/ferrocenyl bisphosphine-catalyzed conjugate addition has been performed. Several parameters such as solvent, nature of the halide present in the Grignard reagent and Cu(I) source, and additives (i.e. dioxane and crown ethers) were identified. These factors directly affect the formation and nature of the intermediate active species, and therefore the selectivity, rate and overall outcome of the reaction. Importantly, the presence of and Br ions in the reaction are essential in order to achieve high selectivity and efficiency. 

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