Imines catalytic cycle

In the initial mechanistic studies of the Ir-catalyzed hydrogenation of imines catalytic cycles involving imine coordination to the metallic center have been considered. - However, in the recent computational study of Hopmann and Bayer it has been shown that in the case of asymmetric hydrogenation with [lr(PHOX)(cod)]+BArF" 9 various catalytic cycles containing coordinated imine are characterized with unreasonably high activation barriers (35-50 kcal/mol). On the other hand, a catalyhc cycle resembling that outlined in 2006 by Oro et al. (Figure 1.30) - has been found kinetically feasible. 

Ornithine decarboxylase is a pyridoxal dependent enzyme. In its catalytic cycle, it normally converts ornithine (7) to putrisine by decarboxylation. If it starts the process with eflornithine instead, the key imine anion (11) produced by decarboxylation can either alkylate the enzyme directly by displacement of either fluorine atom or it can eject a fluorine atom to produce viny-logue 12 which can alkylate the enzyme by conjugate addidon. In either case, 13 results in which the active site of the enzyme is alkylated and unable to continue processing substrate. The net result is a downturn in the synthesis of cellular polyamine production and a decrease in growth rate. Eflornithine is described as being useful in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia, as an antiprotozoal or an antineoplastic substance [3,4]. 

The direct reductive amination (DRA) is a useful method for the synthesis of amino derivatives from carbonyl compounds, amines, and H2. Precious-metal (Ru [130-132], Rh [133-137], Ir [138-142], Pd [143]) catalyzed reactions are well known to date. The first Fe-catalyzed DRA reaction was reported by Bhanage and coworkers in 2008 (Scheme 42) [144]. Although the reaction conditions are not mild (high temperature, moderate H2 pressure), the hydrogenation of imines and/or enam-ines, which are generated by reaction of organic carbonyl compounds with amines, produces various substituted aryl and/or alkyl amines. A dihydrogen or dihydride iron complex was proposed as a reactive intermediate within the catalytic cycle. 

Depending on the nature of the substrates, selectivity could be completely reversed between the two isomeric products. For example, switching R1 group between Buc and Ph gave high yields of the first and second product structures, respectively. The authors noted that the reaction did not proceed if the imine contained an ortho-MeO group at R2 or if the imine was replaced with an aldehyde, oxime, or hydrazone. The catalytic cycle is initiated by C-H activation of the imine, that is, the formation of a five-membered metallocycle alkyne insertion affords the intermediate drawn in Scheme 69. It is noteworthy that this is the first report of catalytic synthesis of indene derivatives via a C-H insertion mechanism (C-H activation, insertion, intramolecular addition). 

Fig. 34.14 Schematic catalytic cycle postulated for the Ir diphosphine-catalyzed hydrogenation of N-aryl imines. For clarity, the halide ligands are not shown.

The TEAF system can be used to reduce ketones, certain alkenes and imines. With regard to the latter substrate, during our studies it was realized that 5 2 TEAF in some solvents was sufficiently acidic to protonate the imine (p K, ca. 6 in water). Iminium salts are much more reactive than imines due to inductive effects (cf. the Stacker reaction), and it was thus considered likely that an iminium salt was being reduced to an ammonium salt [54]. This explains why imines are not reduced in the IPA system which is neutral, and not acidic. When an iminium salt was pre-prepared by mixing equal amounts of an imine and acid, and used in the IPA system, the iminium was reduced, albeit with lower rate and moderate enantioselectivity. Quaternary iminium salts were also reduced to tertiary amines. Nevertheless, as other kinetic studies have indicated a pre-equilibrium with imine, it is possible that the proton formally sits on the catalyst and the iminium is formed during the catalytic cycle. It is, of course, possible that the mechanism of imine transfer hydrogenation is different to that of ketone reduction, and a metal-coordinated imine may be involved [55]. 

FIGURE 4.33 Reactions (A) and (B) describe the MAO catalytic cycle while reaction (C) describes the subsequent aminolysis of the MAO-produced imine product to the aldehyde. 

Alternatively, the rhodium dimer 30 may be cleaved by an amine nucleophile to give 34. Since amine-rhodium complexes are known to be stable, this interaction may sequester the catalyst from the productive catalytic cycle. Amine-rhodium complexes are also known to undergo a-oxidation to give hydridorhodium imine complexes 35, which may also be a source of catalyst poisoning. However, in the presence of protic and halide additives, the amine-rhodium complex 34 could react to give the dihalorhodate complex 36. This could occur by associative nucleophilic displacement of the amine by a halide anion. Dihalorhodate 36 could then reform the dimeric complex 30 by reaction with another rhodium monomer, or go on to react directly with another substrate molecule with loss of one of the halide ligands. It is important to note that the dihalorhodate 36 may become a new resting state for the catalyst under these conditions, in addition to or in place of the dimeric complex. 

Scheme 6.104 Key intermediates of the proposed catalytic cycle for the 100-catalyzed Michael addition of a,a-disubstituted aldehydes to aliphatic and aromatic nitroalkenes Formation of imine (A) and F-enamine (B), double hydrogen-bonding activation of the nitroalkene and nucleophilic enamine attack (C), zwitterionic structure (D), product-forming proton transfer, and hydrolysis.

Imines, ethyl acetylenedicarboxylate and benzoyl chloride were combined in the presence of carbon monoxide and a palladium-tri-o-tolylphosphine catalyst system to pyrrole derivatives (3.90.). Although the carbon monoxide is formally oxidized to carbon dioxide, during the catalytic cycle it is inserted into the intermediates formed and is extruded in a retro-Diels-Alder reaction only in the concluding step of the reaction sequence.114... 

Another more efficient catalytic version of the reaction consists of the interaction of ketones with chiral amines [6] to form enolate-like intermediates that are able to react with electrophilic imines. It has been postulated that this reaction takes place via the catalytic cycle depicted in Scheme 33. The chiral amine (130) attacks the sp-hybridized carbon atom of ketene (2) to yield intermediate (131). The Mannich-like reaction between (131) and the imine (2) yields the intermediate (132), whose intramolecular addition-elimination reaction yields the (5-lactam (1) and regenerates the catalyst (130). In spite of the practical interest in this reaction, little work on its mechanism has been reported [104, 105]. Thus, Lectka et al. have performed several MM and B3LYP/6-31G calculations on structures such as (131a-c) in order to ascertain the nature of the intermediates and the origins of the stereocontrol (Scheme 33). According to their results, conformations like those depicted in Scheme 33 for intermediates (131) account for the chiral induction observed in the final cycloadducts. 

Scheme 33 General catalytic cycle for the reaction between ketenes and imines to yield [S-lactams via zwitterionic intermediates (131a-c) and (132)...

The required chiral sulfur ylide of type 59 is formed in a reaction with a diazo compound in the presence of an achiral metal catalyst. Subsequently, asymmetric reaction of the chiral ylide 59 with the C=N double bond of the imine proceeds diastereoselectively and enantioselectively, giving the optically active aziridine 57. The chiral sulfide catalyst released is then used for the next catalytic cycle. The cat-alytically active species in the asymmetric process is the sulfide, so this concept can also be regarded as an organocatalytic reaction. 

The catalytic cycles are, however, different in the reaction sequence for formation of the enamines which are key intermediates in these aldol reactions. With the type I aldolase a primary amino function of the enzyme is used for direct formation of a neutral imine (Ha) whereas starting from L-proline enamine synthesis proceeds via a positive iminium system (lib) (Scheme 6.23). In this respect, investigations by List et al. on the dependence of the catalytic potential on the type of amino acid are of particular interest. In these studies it has been shown that for catalytic activity the presence of a pyrrolidine ring (in L-proline (S)-37) and the carboxylic acid group is required [69]. 

The mechanism of proline-catalyzed Mannich reactions is depicted in Scheme 5. The ketone or aldehyde donor reacts with proline to give an enamine. Next, the preformed or in-situ-generated imine reacts with the enamine to give, after hydrolysis, the enantiomerically enriched Mannich adduct the catalytic cycle can then be repeated. 

Figure 35. Proposed catalytic cycle for hydrophosphonylation of imines.

Scheme 2.1 The enamine catalytic cycle. An enamine derived from an amine- or amino acid-catalyst can react with a variety of electrophiles. The aldehyde and ketone reactants that form enamines and act as nucleophiles are often described as donors . Aldehyde and imine reactants that serve as electrophiles are described as acceptors for aldol and Mannich reactions, respectively. Ketones also serve as acceptors for aldol reactions.

As in catalytic ylide epoxidation (see Section 10.2.1.1), an alternative catalytic cycle can be based on generation of the ylide in situ by reaction of a sulfide with an alkyl halide to form a salt, which can then be deprotonated [76]. In 2001, Saito et al. reported the asymmetric version of this cycle using a 3 1 ratio of alkyl halide to sulfonyl imine (see Scheme 10.18) [81]. Good yields and ee-values were reported for aryl- and styryl-substituted aziridines using stoichiometric amounts of sulfide 24, and the diastereoselectivities ranged from 1 1 to 4 1. Unfortunately, when loadings were reduced the reaction times became longer and lower yields were reported (see Table 10.2). 

Inspired by the recent observation that imines are reduced with Hantzsch esters in the presence of achiral Lewis or Brpnsted acid catalysts (Itoh et al. 2004), we envisioned a catalytic cycle for the reductive amination of ketones which is initiated by protonation of the in situ generated ketimine 10 from a chiral Brdnsted acid catalyst (Scheme 13). The resulting iminium ion pair, which may be stabilized by hydrogen bonding, is chiral and its reaction with the Hantzsch dihydropyridine 11 could give an enantiomerically enriched amine 12 and pyridine 13. 

Figure 18 Schematic catalytic cycle proposed for the enantioselective imine hydrogenation.

The reaction mechanism of the homogeneous hydrogenation of imines has scarcely been investigated. From the available data, the catalytic cycle depicted in Figure 18, applied to the imine precursor of metolachlor, can be postulated. 

Heterobimetallic catalysis mediated by LnMB complexes (Structures 2 and 22) represents the first highly efficient asymmetric catalytic approach to both a-hydro and c-amino phosphonates [112], The highly enantioselective hydrophosphonylation of aldehydes [170] and acyclic and cyclic imines [171] has been achieved. The proposed catalytic cycle for the hydrophosphonylation of acyclic imines is shown representatively in Scheme 10. Potassium dimethyl phosphite is initially generated by the deprotonation of dimethyl phosphite with LnPB and immediately coordinates to the rare earth metal center via the oxygen. This adduct then produces with the incoming imine an optically active potassium salt of the a-amino phosphonate, which leads via proton-exchange reaction to an a-amino phosphonate and LnPB. 

From analogy with the cyanosilylation of aldehydes a working model for the catalytic cycle has been proposed in which the Lewis acid (Al) and the Lewis base (phosphine oxide) activate the imine and TMSCN respectively. 

Lanthanide(ll)-imine complexes, obtained by reduction of aromatic ketimines with samarium and ytterbium metal, effectively catalyze the hydrosilylation of imines. The proposed catalytic cycle for the imine hydrosilylation is outlined in Scheme 279.961 1033... 

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