Hydrogenation reactions enantioselective, amino acid synthesis

Asymmetric synthesis is a method for direct synthesis of optically active amino acids and finding efficient catalysts is a great target for researchers. Many exceUent reviews have been pubHshed (72). Asymmetric syntheses are classified as either enantioselective or diastereoselective reactions. Asymmetric hydrogenation has been appHed for practical manufacturing of l-DOPA and t-phenylalanine, but conventional methods have not been exceeded because of the short life of catalysts. An example of an enantio selective reaction, asymmetric hydrogenation of a-acetamidoacryHc acid derivatives, eg, Z-2-acetamidocinnamic acid [55065-02-6] (6), is shown below and in Table 4 (73). 

Depending on the stereoselectivity of the reaction, either the or the 5 configuration can generated at C-2 in the product. This corresponds to enantioselective synthesis of the d md L enantiomers of a-amino acids. Hydrogenation using chiral catalysts has been carefully investigated. The most effective catalysts for the reaction are ihodiiun... 

There is little doubt that the hydrogenation of dehydro a-amino acids is the best-studied enantioselective catalytic reaction. This was initiated by the successful development of the L-dopa process by Knowles (see below) and for many years, acetylated aminocinnamic acid derivatives were the model substrates to test most newly developed ligands. As can be seen below, this is the transformation most often used for the stereoselective synthesis of a variety of pharma and... 

Enantioselective synthesis of /1-amino acids is important as they are present in various natural products and in many biologically active compounds [26,27]. Several methods exist for the enantioselective synthesis of -substituted /1-amino acids (/l3-amino acids) however, synthesis of a-substituted /1-amino acids (/l2-amino acids) is very limited [28,29]. A report on highly enantioselective hydrogen atom transfer reactions to synthesize /l2-amino acids (Scheme 9) has recently been described [30]. 

The enantioselective synthesis of the jS-amino acid ester shown in Figure 1.6 has recently been reported by Kubryk and Hansen (Merck) where good ees were obtained by asymmetric hydrogenation. Using an in-situ reaction with diBoc-anhydride to protect the amine group a crystalline product was obtained that was recrystallized to the required 99 % + ee purity very easily. 

The development of chiral peptide-based metal catalysts has also been studied. The group of Gilbertson has synthesized several phosphine-modified amino adds and incorporated two of them into short peptide sequences.[45J,71 They demonstrated the formation of several metal complexes, in particular Rh complexes, and reported their structure as well as their ability to catalyze enantioselectively certain hydrogenation reactions.[481 While the enantioselectivities observed are modest so far, optimization through combinatorial synthesis will probably lead to useful catalysts. The synthesis of the sulfide protected form of both Fmoc- and Boc-dicyclohexylphosphinoserine 49 and -diphenylphosphinoserine 50 has been reported, in addition to diphenylphosphino-L-proline 51 (Scheme 14).[49 To show their compatibility with solid-phase peptide synthesis, they were incorporated into hydrophobic peptides, such as dodecapeptide 53, using the standard Fmoc protocol (Scheme 15).[451 For better results, the phosphine-modified amino acid 50 was coupled as a Fmoc-protected dipeptide 56, rather than the usual Fmoc derivative 52.[471 As an illustrative example, the synthesis of diphe-nylphosphinoserine 52 is depicted in Scheme 16J45 ... 

The Stacker reaction has been employed on an industrial scale for the synthesis of racemic a-amino acids, and asymmetric variants are known. However, most of the reported catalytic asymmetric Stacker-type reactions are indirect and utilize preformed imines, usually prepared from aromatic aldehydes [24]. A review highlights the most important developments in this area [25]. Kobayashi and coworkers [26] discovered an efficient and highly enantioselective direct catalytic asymmetric Stacker reaction of aldehydes, amines, and hydrogen cyanide using a chiral zirconium catalyst prepared from 2 equivalents of Zr(Ot-Bu)4, 2 equivalents of (R)-6,6 -dibromo-1, l -bi-2-naphthol, (R)-6-Br-BINOL], 1 equivalent of (R)-3,3 -dibromo-l,l -bi-2-naphthol, [(R)-3-Br-BINOL, and 3 equivalents of N-methylimida-zole (Scheme 9.17). This protocol is effective for aromatic aldehydes as well as branched and unbranched aliphatic aldehydes. 

S R ratio = 5 1) [22]. Yanada and Yoneda constructed the deazaflavinophane 26, which exhibits complete facial selectivity in its oxidation and reduction reactions, e.g. the reduction with NaBD to afford 27 [23], Belokon and Rozen-berg used scalemic 4-formyl-5-hydroxy[2.2]para-cyclophane (FHPC) 28 in the synthesis of a-ami-no acids (ee 45-98 %) [24], An alternative approach to FHPC was more recently reported by Hopf [25]. Other interesting advances in the area of chiral cyclophanes include the homochir-al [2.2]paracyclophane-derived amino acids 29 and 30 [26], as well as (5)-PHANEPHOS (31) [27], which has been shown to be an effective ligand for highly enantioselective Ru-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenations of -ketoesters and... 

The highly enantioselective hydrogenation of the corresponding dehydroamino acids (R =H) and the synthesis of Al-Cbz-protected ot-amino acids (R =OBn) are likewise possible. Enantioselectivities of >99% can be achieved after 20-40 hours. Amino acid esters can be used directly for the synthesis of peptides. Deprotection of the amino groups can be carried out under mild conditions, thus avoiding racemization reactions. 

Enantioselective hydrogenation of certain a- and 3-(acylamino)acrylic acids or esters in alcohols under 1-4 atm H2 affords the protected a- and 3-amino acids, respectively (eqs eq 3 and eq 4). Reaction of N-acylated 1-alkylidene-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinolines provides the IR- or 15-alkylated products. This method allows a general asymmetric synthesis of isoquinoline alkaloids (eq 5). ... 

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