Hydrogen chiral proton” catalysts

In contrast to catalysts 37-39, which are neutral species with dual hydrogen bond donor capability, catalysts such as 40-43 are ionic displaying a hydrogen bond donor site that better resemble the proton (H" ), which is probably the most common Lewis acid found in Nature. The pioneering work carried out by Johnston showed the effectiveness of the chiral proton-based structure 40 in the addition of nitromethane and nitroethane to aryl N-Boc imines (Scheme 29.22) [48]. As a... 

A further important advance was also achieved by Rouden et al. [17] who developed the use of thiourea cinchona alkaloids 33-34 in the enantioselective decarboxylative protonation of a-aminomalonates (Scheme 3.12). The basic idea in using these bifunctional catalysts was to take advantage of the good hydrogen-bond donor properties of the thiourea moiety to promote further interactions between the chiral proton source and the prochiral enolate intermediate. Bifunctional catalyst 33 in quinidine series turned out to be especially efficient with a large range of substrates... 

The chiral catalyst 142 achieves selectivities through a double effect of intramolecular hydrogen binding interaction and attractive tt-tt donor-acceptor interactions in the transition state by a hydroxy aromatic group [88]. The exceptional results of some Diels-Alder reactions of cyclopentadiene with substituted acroleins catalyzed by (R)-142 are reported in Table 4.21. High enantio- and exo selectivity were always obtained. The coordination of a proton to the 2-hydroxyphenyl group with an oxygen of the adjacent B-0 bond in the nonhelical transition state should play an important role both in the exo-endo approach and in the si-re face differentiation of dienophile. 

Chemical catalysts for transfer hydrogenation have been known for many decades [2e]. The most commonly used are heterogeneous catalysts such as Pd/C, or Raney Ni, which are able to mediate for example the reduction of alkenes by dehydrogenation of an alkane present in high concentration. Cyclohexene, cyclo-hexadiene and dihydronaphthalene are commonly used as hydrogen donors since the byproducts are aromatic and therefore more difficult to reduce. The heterogeneous reaction is useful for simple non-chiral reductions, but attempts at the enantioselective reaction have failed because the mechanism seems to occur via a radical (two-proton and two-electron) mechanism that makes it unsuitable for enantioselective reactions [2 c]. 

Enantioselective hydrogenation of prochiral ketones has rarely been studied in aqueous biphasic media. In addition to the chiral bisphosphonic acid derivatives of 1,2-cyclohexanediamine [130], the protonated 4,4 -, 5,5 -, and 6,6 -amino-methyl-substituted BINAP (diamBINAP 2HBr) ligands (Scheme 38.7) served as constituents of the Ru(II)-based catalysts in the biphasic hydrogenations of ethyl acetoacetate [131, 132]. These catalysts were recovered in the aqueous phase and used in at least four cycles, with only a marginal loss of activity and enantio-selectivity. 

New catalyst design further highlights the utility of the scaffold and functional moieties of the Cinchona alkaloids. his-Cinchona alkaloid derivative 43 was developed by Corey [49] for enantioselective dihydroxylation of olefins with OsO. The catalyst was later employed in the Strecker hydrocyanation of iV-allyl aldimines. The mechanistic logic behind the catalyst for the Strecker reaction presents a chiral ammonium salt of the catalyst 43 (in the presence of a conjugate acid) that would stabilize the aldimine already activated via hydrogen-bonding to the protonated quinuclidine moiety. Nucleophilic attack by cyanide ion to the imine would give an a-amino nitrile product (Scheme 10). 

This review will concentrate on metal-free Lewis acids, which incorporate a Lewis acidic cation or a hypervalent center. Lewis acids are considered to be species with a vacant orbital [6,7]. Nevertheless, there are two successful classes of organocatalysts, which may be referred to as Lewis acids and are presented in other chapter. The first type is the proton of a Brpnsted acid catalyst, which is the simplest Lewis acid. The enantioselectivities obtained are due to the formation of a chiral ion pair. The other type are hydrogen bond activating organocatalysts, which can be considered to be Lewis acids or pseudo-Lewis acids. 

The bidentate oxazoline ligands 85 and 86 (and derivatives thereof) are excellent reporter ligands, and several studies have used NOEs to determine the nature of their chiral pockets [61, 113, 114, 126]. NOESY studies on the cations [Ir(l,5-COD)(86)]+ and several cationic tri-nudear Ir(iii)(hydrido) compounds [110], e. g. [Ir3(p3-H)(H)5(86)3] +, 87, in connection with their hydrogenation activity, allowed their 3-D solution structures to be determined. In addition to the ortho P-phenyl protons, the protons of the oxazoline alkyl group are helpful in assigning the 3-D structure of both the catalyst precursors and the inactive tri-nudear dusters. Specifically, for one of these tri-nudear Ir(iii) complexes, 87 [110], with terminal hydride ligands at d -17.84 and d -21.32 (and a triply bridging hydride at 5 -7.07), the P-phenyl and oxazoline reporters define their relative positions, as shown in Scheme 1.5. 

Shortly thereafter, Terada demonstrated that the Mannich reaction between several N-Boc aryl imines and acetoacetone was effectively catalyzed by only 2 mol% of le (Scheme 5.2) [4]. In view of AMyama s work, this study is particularly significant because it suggested that le may act as a bifunctional catalyst [9] not only to form a chiral ion pair with the electrophile but also to activate the nucelo-phile through hydrogen bonding of the a-proton with Lewis basic phosphoryl oxygen. 

Recently, we established that several proton acids catalyze the metal-free reduction of ketimines under hydrogen-transfer conditions with Hantzsch dihydropyridine as the hydrogen source.Additionally, we were able to demonstrate a catalytic enantioselective procedure of this new transformation by employing a chiral Br0nsted acid as catalyst.(see Chapter 4.1). 

L-Prolinethioamides (39, R = alkyl including chiral alkyl), prepared from proline and amines, are effective in acetone-benzaldehyde reactions.110 Mechanistic studies focused in particular on suppression of non-enantioselective side-reactions, and also on the role of the side-chain of the catalyst acting as hydrogen bond donor, especially as the thioamides (with their more acidic N—H protons) are more catalytic than their amide analogues. 

Addition of the thiophenolate anion to the / -carbon atom of the enone is the chirality-determining step it is, at the same time, rate-determining. The transition state is a ternary complex comprising the catalytic base in the protonated form, the thiophenolate anion, and the enone. The last is activated to nucleophilic attack by hydrogen-bonding to the catalysts / -hydroxy group. The chiral cinchona bases thus act as bifunctional catalysts. 

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