Enones cyanation

Some other very important events in the historic development of asymmetric organocatalysis appeared between 1980 and the late 1990s, such as the development of the enantioselective alkylation of enolates using cinchona-alkaloid-based quaternary ammonium salts under phase-transfer conditions or the use of chiral Bronsted acids by Inoue or Jacobsen for the asymmetric hydro-cyanation of aldehydes and imines respectively. These initial reports acted as the launching point for a very rich chemistry that was extensively developed in the following years, such as the enantioselective catalysis by H-bonding activation or the asymmetric phase-transfer catalysis. The same would apply to the development of enantioselective versions of the Morita-Baylis-Hillman reaction,to the use of polyamino acids for the epoxidation of enones, also known as the Julia epoxidation or to the chemistry by Denmark in the phosphor-amide-catalyzed aldol reaction. ... 

Motomu Kanai and Masakatsu Shibasaki of the University of Tokyo devised (J. ArtL Chem. Soc. 2008,130, 6072) a chiral Gd catalyst that mediated the conjugate cyanation of enones such as 6 with high ee. Eric N. Jacobsen of Harvard University prepared Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2008,47,1762) a dimeric A1 salen catalyst that showed improved activity over the monomeric catalysts. Even congested imides such as 8 could be cyanated efficiently, delivering alkylated quaternary stereogenic centers. 

Cinchona-alkaloid-catalysed conjugate cyanation of enones has enabled the synthesis of trifluoromethyl-substituted diarylpyrroles with ee<96%P° Thiochro-manes have been formed by asymmetric domino sulfa-Michael-aldol reactions of 2-mercaptobenzaldehyde with a,/ -unsaturated A-acylpyrazoles. Asymmetric organocatalysed oxy-Michael addition to y-hydroxy a,/ -unsaturated thioesters on reaction with t-BuCHO has been used to form -hydroxy carbonyl compounds HOCH2C H(OH)CH2CO.SAr via cyclic hemiacetal intermediates. 

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