Imines, asymmetric cyanation

The Strecker reaction [1] starting from an aldehyde, ammonia, and a cyanide source is an efficient method for the preparation of a-amino acids. A popular version for asymmetric purposes is based on the use of preformed imines 1 and a subsequent nucleophilic addition of HCN or TMSCN in the presence of a chiral catalyst [2], Besides asymmetric cyanations catalyzed by metal-complexes [3], several methods based on the use of organocatalysts have been developed [4-14]. The general organocatalytic asymmetric hydrocyanation reaction for the synthesis of a-amino nitriles 2 is shown in Scheme 5.1. 

The catalytic asymmetric cyanation of imines-the Strecker reaction-represents one of the most direct and viable methods for the asymmetric synthesis of a-amino... 

On the other hand, only few studies have been successful in the asymmetric cyanation of imines compared with that of carbonyl compounds since imines,in general, themselves promote the cyanation reaction without a catalyst. 

The bifunctional catalysts developed by Shibasaki and coworkers effective in the asymmetric cyanation of aldehydes and ketones (see Section 6.2) have been applied to good effect in the cyanation of imines. For instance, aluminium BINOL (6.65) catalyses the cyanation of aromatic and a,p-unsaturated N-fluorenylaldimines using TMSCN in good ee, while gadolinium complexes of the glucose-derived ligand (6.71) and derivatives have been used in the enantioselective cyanation of ketimines. ... 

The asymmetric cyanation of imines can also be mediated by organocata-lysts. The group of Jacobsen has developed a metal-free cyanation utilising thiourea (6.130) and this catalyst has recently been used in an asymmetric three... 

Scheme 7.20 Asymmetric cyanation of AT-benzhydiyl imines using ligand 29.

Scheme 7.22 Asymmetric cyanation of imines using self-supported complex 30.

Recent developments in the catalytic asymmetric cyanation of ketimines. (c) T. Vilaivan, W. Bhanthumnauin, Y. Sritana-Anant, Curr. Org. Chem. 2005, 9, 1315-1392. Recent advances in catalytic asymmetric addition to imines and related C=N systems, (d) S. J. Connon, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2008,47,1176-1178. The catalytic asymmetric Strecker reaction ketimines continue to join the fold. 

Seayad, A.M., Ramalingam, B., Chai, C.LL, Li, C., Garland, M.V., and Yoshinaga, K. (2012) Self-supported chiral titanium cluster (SCTC) as a robust catalyst for the asymmetric cyanation of imines under batch and continuous flow at room temperature. Chem. Eur. J., 18, 5693-5700. doi 10.1002/chem.201200528... 

Asymmetric cyanation of imines, a modified Strecker synthesis, affords enantiomerically enriched a-aminonitriles, which can be converted into a-amino acids. Seayad and Ramahngam reported a homogeneous catalyst system that was derived... 

One of the most important approaches to a-amino acids is based on the Strecker reaction. Although there are already a number of catalytic asymmetric variants, the cyanation of imines still challenges modem organic chemists. 

The cyanation of imines, generally known as the Strecker reaction, has been one of the most aggressively studied transformations of asymmetric catalysis over the past several years. Very recent efforts in this area have resulted in the discovery of several highly efficient catalytic systems capable of providing a-ami-... 

The potential substrates for the Strecker reaction fall into two categories ald-imines (derived from aldehydes, for which cyanide addition results in formation of a tertiary stereocenter) and ketoimines (derived from ketones, for which addition results in a quaternary stereocenter). As in the case of carbonyl cyanation, significant differences are observed between the substrate subclasses. To date, while a few catalyst systems have been found to display broad substrate scope with respect to aldimine substrates, successful Strecker reactions of ketoimines have been reported in only two cases. As is the case for all asymmetric catalytic methodologies, the breadth of the substrate scope constitutes a crucial criterion for the application of the Strecker reaction to a previously unexplored substrate. 

Cyanations. Aluminum complexes with diarylphosphine oxide groups possev cyanation of aldehydes and imines- with in a manner analogous to the Reisser asymmetric Strecker synthesis is applic reactivity of Me SiCN than HCN in the p catalytic amount while supplying stoichica... 

Strecker reaction to establish a new stereocenter is subject to asymmetric induction, capable of creating either a tertiary" or quaternary carbon atom in the presence of 59. The peptido-imine 60 proves to be an excellent ligand for the Ti(IV)-mediated cyanation of aldimines. On catalysis of the bicyclic guanidine 61 the addition of HCN to A-benzhydrylaldimines affords a-amino nitrile derivatives with moderate to good ee. ... 

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. ... 

Discovered in the middle of the 19th century, the Strecker reaction is one of the earliest atom-economic multicomponent reactions. Amino nitriles were simply obtained from ammonia, hydrogen cyanide and an aldehyde. These products are important intermediates for the synthesis of natural and unnatural a-aminoacids. Due to the ever-increased demand for enantioenri-chied a-aminoacids, the asymmetric Strecker reaction has emerged as a viable synthetic method. Since the first report published in 1996, the catalytic enantioselective cyanation of preformed imines was intensively studied and several excellent reviews were devoted to this topic. ... 

Using a-unbranched aldimines for the asymmetric Strecker reaction under PTC, somewhat lower ee s and yields were obtained than with branched analogues. These results can be ascribed to the partial imine hydrolysis and uncatalyzed cyanation of primary and secondary aldimines under PTC [44]. Therefore, N-arylsulfonyl a-amido sulfones 78 were employed for in situ generation of the imines species (Table 30.9). With catalyst 76, generally higher yields and higher enantioselectivities were obtained for various primary and secondary aliphatic N-arylsulfonyl a-amido sulfones 78. 

Asymmetric phase-transfer catalytic addition of cyanide to C=N, C=0, and C=C bonds has been recently explored, which has been demonstrated to be an efficient method toward the synthesis of a series of substituted chiral nitriles. In this context, Maraoka and coworkers disclosed an enantioselective Strecker reaction of aldimines by using aqueous KCN [140]. In this system, the chiral quaternary ammonium salts (R)-36e bearing a tetranaphthyl backbone were found to be remarkably efficient catalysts (Scheme 12.25). Subsequently, this phase-transfer-catalyzed asymmetric Strecker reaction was further elaborated by use of a-amidosulfones as precursor of N-arylsulfonyl imines. Interestingly, the reaction could be conducted with a slight excess of potassium cyanide [141] or acetone cyanohydrin [40] as cyanide source, and good to high enantioselectivities were observed. In contrast, the asymmetric phase-transfer-catalytic cyanation of aldehydes led to the cyanation products with only moderate enantioselectivity [142]. 

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